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MEMOIRS 


or   THE 


f^.-  "*r 


MEMOIRS 


or  THE 


WESLEY    FAMILY; 


COLLECTED    PRINCIPALLY 

- 

FROM  ORIGINAL  DOCUMENTS. 


* 
BY  ADAM  CLARKE,  LL.  D.,  F.  A.  S. 


NEW-YORK, 

PUBLISHED  BY  J.   EMORY   AND  B.   WAUGH,  FOR  THE  METHODIST 

EPISCOPAL   CHURCH,  AT  THE   CONFERENCE  OFFirK, 

NO.    14   CROSBY-STREET. 


J.  Collord,  Printer. 
1933, 


INTRODUCTION. 


DURING  the  time  in  which  men,  eminent  for  their 
literary,  diplomatic,  or  military  talents  flourish,  the 
public  is  rarely  led  to  examine  by  what  slow  grada- 
tions their  powers  became  matured  ;  or  what  evidence 
their  infancy  and  youth  afforded  of  that  high  celebrity 
which  they  afterward  attained. 

The  great  utility  of  their  literary  labours,  or  the 
splendour  of  their  public  services,  occupies  and  dazzles 
the  mind,  so  that  all  minor  considerations  become 
absorbed ;  and  it  is  only  when  the  public  is  deprived 
by  death  of  such  illustrious  characters,  that  posterity 
feel  disposed  to  trace  them  up  to  their  earliest  period ; 
and  inquire  by  what  means  these  luminaries,  so  small 
at  their  rising,  attained  to  such  a  meridian  of  usefulness 
and  glory,  and  appeared  so  broad  and  resplendent  at 
their  setting. 

This  is  equally  the  case  both  with  states  and  men : 
hence  the  historian  as  well  as  the  biographer,  influ- 
enced by  the  maxim,  Felix  qui  potuit  rerum  cognos- 
cere  causas,  endeavours  to  investigate  those  philosophic 
and  intellectual  principles  which  gave  birth  and  being 
to  such  physical,  political,  and  mental  energies. 

THAT  Divine  providence,  which  arranges  and  con- 
ducts the  whole,  and  under  whose  especial  guidance 
and  control  the  course  of  the  present  state  is  ordered, 
so  that  all  operations  in  the  natural,  civil,  and  moral 
world  issue  in  manifesting  the  glory,  justice,  and 
mercy,  of  the  Supreme  Being,  lies  farther  out  of  the  view 
of  men,  and  by  most  is  little  regarded  :  hence  a  multi- 
tude of  events  appear  to  have  either  no  intelligent  cause, 
or  none  adequate  to  their  production ;  and  because  the 
operations  of  the  Divine  hand  are  not  regarded,  histo. 


2052059 


'INTRODUCTION. 


rians  and  biographers  often  disquiet  themselves  in  vain 
to  find  out  the  causes  and  reasons  of  the  circumstances 
and  transactions  which  they  record. 

In  the  dispensations  of  mercy  to  the  world,  and  the 
effects  produced  by  them,  the  principles  from  which  all 
originated,  the  agencies  employed,  and  the  mode  of 
working,  are  still  more  difficult  of  apprehension,  par- 
ticularly to  those  minds  which  regard  earthly  things, 
and  see  nothing  in  the  natural  and  moral  world  but 
general  laws,  of  which  they  do  not  appear  to  have  any 
very  distinct  view ;  and  which  never  can  account  for 
the  endlessly  varied  occurrences  in  a  single  human  life, 
— much  less  in  a  state,  and  still  less  in  the  government 
of  the  Church.  By  the  government  of  the  Church,  I 
mean  the  continuation  of  that  energetic  and  superna- 
tural principle  by  which  pure  and  undefiled  religion, 
consisting  in  piety  to  God  and  benevolence  to  man,  is 
maintained  in  the  earth.  There  has  been  an  unhappy 
propensity  in  all  times  to  deny  the  existence  of  this 
principle,  and  its  operations  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
men ;  and  this  has  been  the  fruitful  source  both  of  irre- 
ligion  and  false  doctrine:  and  hence  the  Church  of  God 
often  feels  the  necessity  of  contending  earnestly  for 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God. 
This  has  a  greater  extension  of  meaning  than  is  gene- 
rally allowed :  it  does  not  merely  apply  to  the  denial  of 
the  existence  of  one  Supreme  Being,  but  also  to  his  in- 
fluences and  operations,  even  where  his  being  is  allowed. 
When  moral  effects,  the  purest,  the  most  distinguished, 
and  the  most  beneficial  to  society,  are  attributed  to 
natural  causes,  human  passions,  and  the  inquietudes  of 
vanity,  and  not  to  the  Jluthor  of  all  good,  the  Father  of 
lights,  then 'we  may  safely  assert,  that  the  person  who 
so  views  them  is  one  of  those  unwise  men  of  whom  the 


IXTRODUCTIOX. 


psalmist  speaks.  He  excludes  God  from  his  own 
peculiar  work ;  gives  to  nature  what  belongs  to  grace  ; 
to  human  passions,  what  belongs  to  the  Divine  Spirit ; 
and  to  secondary  causes  what  must  necessarily  spring 
from  the  First  Cause  of  all  things. 

Were  not  the  subject  too  grave,  it  would  be  sufficient 
to  excite  something  more  than  a  smile  to  see  men  both 
of  abilities  and  learning,  in  their  discussion  of  spiritual 
subjects  which  they  have  never  thoroughly  examined, 
because  they  have  never  experimentally  felt  them, 
labour  to  account  for  all  the  phenomena  of  repentance, 
faith,  and  holiness,  by  excluding  the  Spirit  of  God  from 
his  own  proper  work ;  and,  to  the  discredit  of  their 
understanding  and  the  dishonour  of  religion  and  sound 
philosophy,  search  for  the  principle  that  produces  love 
to  God  and  all  mankind,  with  all  the  fruits  of  a  holy 
life,  in  some  of  the  worst  passions  of  the  human  heart. 

In  reference  to  a  great  and  manifest  revival  of  religion 
in  the  land  we  have  heard  the  following  concessions : — 

"  It  is  granted,  (say  such  men,)  that  multitudes  of  the 
most  profligate  of  the  people  have  been  morally  changed ; 
and,  from  being  a  curse  to  their  respective  neighbour- 
hoods, have  become  a  blessing  to  the  whole  circle  of 
their  acquaintance  ;  the  best  of  servants,  sons,  and 
husbands ;  obedient  subjects  to  the  state,  and  a  credit 
to  humanity."  But  how  was  this  change  effected  ? 
"Why,"  say  they,  "  by  the  persuasive  arguments  of  a 
powerful  orator ;  who,  to  the  love  of  power  and  the 
lust  of  ambition,  added  extraordinary  address  and  gene- 
ral benevolence.  With  a  strong  tincture  of  enthusiasm 
in  himself,  which  found  a  tractable  disposition  in  the 
fanaticism  of  the  age,  and  the  credulity  of  the  common 
people ;  he  succeeded  in  raising,  organizing,  and 
rendering  permanent,  a  society  of  increasing  influence 
and  importance  ;  the  pfinciples  of  which  deserve  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


investigation  of  the  statesman  and  the  philosopher,  and 
their  economy  and  progress  the  pen  of  the  historian." 

Thus  the  good  done  is  reluctantly  acknowledged ; 
while  the  cause  of  it  is  either  entirely  unnoticed,  or  un- 
known. A  fountain  is  pointed  out  which  produces  sweet 
waters  and  bitter ;  brambles  which  produce  figs,  and 
thorns  which  produce  grapes ;  or  in  other  words,  that 
work  which  neither  might  nor  power,  but  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  of  hosts  alone  can  effect,  is  attributed  to  a 
certain  mechanical  operation  on  the  minds  of  the  multi- 
tude by  the  agency  of  worldly  ambition,  lust  of  power, 
self-interest,  and  hypocrisy ! 

Thus  has  the  world  been  often  abused  in  reference 
to  the  work  of  God  by  ignorant,  irreligious,  and  preju- 
diced men,  from  the  foundation  of  Christianity  to  the 
present  time :  but  never  more,  and  never  more  grossly, 
than  in  relation  to  the  Rev.  John  Wesley  and  that  great 
revival  of  Scriptural  Christianity  which  it  has  pleased 
the  world  to  call  Methodism,  and  the  subjects  of  which 
it  terms  Methodists, — appellatives  which  the  members 
of  that  religious  society  bear,  not  because  they  have 
either  chosen  or  approved  of  them,  but  because  the 
public  will  have  it  so. 

The  fame  of  Mr.  Wesley's  labours,  writings,  and 
success  in  the  ministry,  has  reached  most  parts  of  the 
habitable  globe  ;  and  wherever  his  name  has  been 
heard,  a  desire  has  very  naturally  been  excited  to  know 
something  of  his  origin  and  personal  history,  and  of  the 
rise  and  progress  of  that  work  of  which  he  was,  under 
God,  the  author,  and  for  more  than  half  a  century  the 
great  superintendent  and  conductor.  To  meet  this^ 
desire,  various  lives  and  memoirs,  possessing  different 
degrees  of  merit  and  accuracy,  have  been  published  : 
but  in  most  cases  by  authors  either  ill-informed  or  pre- 
judiced. To  some  of  those  writers  Mr.  Wesley  was 


V, 

INTRODUCTION 


never  personally  known :  and  they  were  obliged  to 
collect  their  information  from  such  quarters  as  were 
but  ill-calculated  to  give  what  was  correct :  by  others 
the  whole  system  of  Methodism  was  misunderstood ; 
and  no  wonder  if  by  them  it  were  misrepresented. 
Most  of  the  narratives  referred  to  were  published  shortly 
after  Mr.  Wesley's  death,  before  the  great  principles, 
both  religious  and  economical,  of  Methodism  could 
have  been  put  to  that  full  and  extensive  test  to  which 
they  have  since  been  subjected ;  and  hence  the  Metho- 
dists' conference  have  been  led  to  determine  that  the 
present  matured  state  of  this  great  work,  and  the  bene- 
ficent operation  of  those  principles,  should  be  brought 
before  the  public,  exhibited  in  their  own  light ;  and 
that  a  new  history  of  the  founder  of  Methodism  should 
be  compiled  from  original  documents,  many  of  which 
had  not  been  seen  by  his  previous  biographers ;  the 
whole  being  intended  to  give  a  correct  view  of  his 
character  and  labours  in  connection  with  the  present 
matured  state  of  that  work  of  which  the  Most  High 
God  had  made  him  the  chief  instrument.     The  com- 
piler of  the  present  work  was  requested  by  the  con- 
ference in  1821  to  undertake  this  task.    With  oppress- 
ive feelings,  from  a  deep  sense  of  his  own  unfitness, 
he  reluctantly  acceded,  and  began  to  collect  and  arrange 
his  materials.      While  thus  employed,  a  number  of 
documents  relative  to  the  Wesley  Family  presented 
themselves  to  view ;  and  as  some  hinderances  were  un* 
expectedly  found  to  exist,  which  prevented  the  writer 
from  proceeding  with  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Wesley, 
and  that  of  his  brother  Charles,  the  companion  of  his 
early  labours,  he  was  induced  to  turn  his  attention  to  the 
few  remaining  memorials  of  the  Wesley  Family,  princi- 
pally in  his  own  possession,  which  time  was  every  mo- 
ment rendering  less  and  less  perfect  and  legible ;  many 


INTRODUCTION. 


of  which  had  been  badly  kept  while  passing  through 
hands  that  had  little  interest  in  their  preservation.  To 
render  these  as  complete  as  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  would  admit,  great  pains  were  taken  to  collect 
from  the  few  remaining  contemporaries  of  the  Wesley 
Family,  and  their  immediate  descendants,  every  authen- 
tic anecdote  that  had  been  preserved  of  the  original 
stock  and  collateral  branches  of  this  wondrous  tree, 
whose  shade  has  been  extended  over  various  parts  of 
the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  under  which  fowl 
of  every  wing  have  been  collected,  and  found  shelter. 
Had  this  work  been  undertaken  even  thirty  years  ago, 
the  result  would  have  been  much  more  satisfactory ; 
as  at  that  time  many  were  alive  who  had  seen  the  cloud, 
arise,  and  could  have  supplied  the  most  useful  infor- 
mation. But  regrets  relative  to  this  are  vain — these 
are  all  dead  :  fourscore  and  eight  years  were  sufficient 
to  have  swept  off  all  those  who  had  entered  into  life, 
when  God  began  to  pour  out  his  Spirit  to  produce 
that  reformation  in  the  land  which  has  been  since  term- 
ed Methodism  ;  and  more  than  sufficient  to  gather  into 
eternal  habitations  those  who  had  been  the  original 
subjects  and  witnesses  of  this  blessed  work. 

As  to  the  original  family,  it  is  most  probable  that  all 
memorials  are  lost,  except  those  preserved  in  the  fok 
lowing  sheets.  These  cannot  be  unacceptable  to  the 
Methodists,  nor  uninteresting  to  the  religious  public ; 
and  both  will  possibly  join  in  thankfulness  for  what 
has  been  done,  and  in  candidly  passing  over  any  inad- 
vertencies or  mistakes  which  they  may  discover  in  the 
work. 

If  it  bear  the  marks  of  haste  and  carelessness,  the 
reader  may  rest  assured  thatnone  of  these  either  prevail- 
ed or  existed  in  the  course  of  this  undertaking ;  long 
continued  labour  precluded  haste,  and  deep  anxiety  to 


INTRODUCTION. 


be  accurate  and  useful  precluded  carelessness.  But 
whoever  considers  the  difficulty  of  not  only  collecting, 
but  of  arranging,  bits  and  scraps,  verbal  communications 
and  items,  from  a  thousand  different  quarters,  will  not 
wonder  should  they  find  a  few  mistakes ;  and  in  va- 
rious parts  an  inadequacy  of  composition,  should  that 
approach  even  to  a  flatness  of  diction  and  poverty  of 
language. 

To  those  for  whose  use  these  Memoirs  were  chiefly 
intended,  it  will  be  no  matter  of  surprise  that  the  writer 
should  appear  the  constant  advocate  of  Methodism,  the 
admirer  of  its  doctrines  and  discipline,  and  also  of  the 
means  employed  in  its  propagation. 

But  while  he  adores  the  grace  of  God  which  has 
produced  those  wondrous  and  beneficent  results  which 
have  fallen  under  his  own  notice  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
he  hopes  that  it  will  not  be  supposed  that  he  is  hostile 
to  any  person  who  thinks  differently  from  himself  on 
this  subject;  and  much  less  to  any  body  of  Christians 
whose  creed  may  be  in  any  respect  different  from  his 
own.  He  sincerely  wishes  them  all  God's  speed  ;  and 
is  thankful  to  God  when  he  sees  the  interests  of  genu- 
ine Christianity  promoted,  though  by  persons  who  fol- 
low not  with  him. 

To  all  those  who  have  contributed  original  docu- 
ments and  other  information  for  the  use  of  these 
Memoirs,  he  returns  his  best  thanks  :  but  here  he  should 
acknowledge  that  he  stands  chiefly  indebted  to  his  ex- 
cellent friend,  Miss  Sarah  Wesley,  for  her  continual 
assistance ;  to  the  venerable  and  reverend  Thomas 
Steadman,  rector  of  St.  Chad's,  Shrewsbury  ;  to  Tho- 
mas Marrioft,  Esq.,  London;  and  to  the  honourable 
person  from  whom  he  received  those  important  letters, 
that  have  thrown  so.  much  light  on  the  early  history  of 
the  rector  of  Epworth. 

2 


FACSIMILES  OF  THE  WESLEY  FAMILY,  ETC. 


At  the  desire  of  several  particular  friends,  I  have  added  a  plate  of  Fac-similes  of 
the  Wesley  Family,  and  of  some  of  Mr.  J.  Wesley's  early  friends  among  the  Mo- 
ravians and  others.  The  following  explanatory  list  refers  to  the  numbers  and  sig- 
natures on  the  plate.  A.  C. 

*  The  Rev.  Samuel  Annesley,  LL.  D. 
No.  1.  Mr.  Samuel  Annesley,  eldest  son  of  Dr.  Samuel  Annesley. 

2.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley,  sen.,  rector  of  Epworth. 

3.  Mrs.  Susanna  Wesley,  mother  of  the  Rev.  J.  Wesley. 

4.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley,  jun.,  master  of  the  Free  School, 

Tiverton. 

5.  The  Rev.  John  Wesley,  founder  of  the  Methodists'  Societies. 

6.  The  Rev.  Charles  Wesley,  brother  to  the  above. 

7.  Mehetabel,  alias  Hetty  Wesley,  afterward  Mrs.  Wright. 

8.  Martha,  alias  Patty  Wesley,  afterward  Mrs.  Hall. 

9.  Kezia  Wresley. 

10.  Emelia  Wesley,  afterward  Mrs.  Harper. 

11.  The  Rev.  John  Wesley's  last  entry  in  his  private  Journal. 

As  the  writing  is  not  easy  to  be  read,  I  give  it  here  :— 
"  JV.  B.  For  upu'ards  of  eighty-six  years  (qu.  sixty-eight?) 
/  have  kept  my  accounts  exactly.  I  will  not  attempt  it  any 
longer,  being  satisfied  with  the  continual  conviction,  that 
J  save  all  I  can,  and  give  all  I  can,  that  is,  all  1  have.  John 
Wesley.  July  16,  1790. 

12.  The  Rev.  John  Wesley's  last  Signature  in  the  Journal  of  the 

Conference. 

13.  The  Rev.  George  Whitefield. 

14.  The  Rev.  John  Fletcher,  vicar  of  Madeley. 

15.  Mr.  John  Cennick,  afterward  one  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum. 

16.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Coke,  LL.  D. 

17.  Mr.  Benjamin  Ingham. 

18.  P.  H.  Molther,  one  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  , 

19.  The  Rev.  Wm.  Delamotte. 

20.  General  James  Oglethorpe,  with  whom  Messrs.  J.  and  C. 

Wesley  sailed  to  Savannah,  in  Georgia. 

21.  The  Rev.  John  Gillies,  D.  D. 

22.  The  Rev.  Walter  Shirley. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ACT   OF   UHIFORMlTt.,  15 

Dr.  -Ee»Te»,  dean  of  Westminster ;  Peter  Heylin,  D.  D.  ;  John 
Hackett,  D.  D. ;  John  Bencick,  D.  D.  ;  Peter  Gunning,  D.  D. ;  John 
Pearson,  D.  D. ;  Thomas  Pierce  ;  Anthony  Sparrow ;  Herbert  Thorn- 
dyke,  D.  D. 

Thomas  Horton,  D.  D.  ;  Thomas  Jacomb,  D.  D. ;  William  Bale, 
John  Raiclinson,  clerks  ;  William  Cooper,  clerk ;  Dr.  John  Lightfoot  ; 
Dr.  John  Collings ;  Dr.  Benjamin  Woodbridg ;  and  William  Drake, 
clerk. 

The  first  list,  containing  eleven  BISHOPS,  with  the  ARCHBISHOP  of 
York  ;  and  the  second  list  containing  eleven  DISSENTERS,  are  properly 
the  commissioners  to  try  this  cause.  The  third  list,  beginning  with  Dr. 
Earles  and  ending  with  Dr.  Thorndyke,  was  a  list  of  reserve,  to  supply 
the  place  of  any  of  the  bishops,  absent  or  ill.  And  the  fourth  list,  begin- 
ning with  Dr.  Thomas  Horton,  and  ending  with  William  Drake,  was  a 
similar  list  to  supply  the  place  of  any  absent  Dissenters.  Thus  we 
find  the  commissioners  were  fairly  divided,  ELEVEN  bishops,  and 
ELEVEN  dissenting  ministers;  each  party  having  NINE  substitutes,  in 
case  of  necessity  :  the  archbishop  of  York  was  the  president.  Among 
these  commissioners  on  both  sides  were  some  of  the  most  learned  and 
eminent  men  in  the  kingdom. 

As  this  arrangement  was  made  by  the  king  and  his  privy  council, 
and  the  parties  on  each  side  were  made  equal  in  number,  with  an  equal 
number  of  proxies  for  each,  it  is  most  evident  that  the  king  expected 
the  matters  in  dispute  to  be  settled  by  a  majority  of  votes,  in  conse- 
quence of  each  article  being  fully  and  fairly  discussed.  But  this  was 
the  fartherest  thing  from  the  minds  of  the  bishops  ;  they  were  deter- 
mined to  yield  nothing,  but  carry  every  thing  their  own  way  •.  and  the 
easy  king,  intent  on  nothing  but  his  sinful  pleasures,  made  no  remon- 
strance, but  permitted  them  to  act  as  they  pleased.  The  consequence 
was,  the^true  pastors  of  the  flock  were  expelled  from  the  fold  ;  and 
hirelings,  who  cared  more  for  the  fleece  and  the  fat,  than  for  the  sheep, 
climbed  over  the  wall,  and  seized  on  flocks  to  which  they  had  no  right, 
either  divine  or  human  ;  and  the  people  of  God  were  either  starved  or 
scattered.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  soon  followed,  and  became  the  act 
of  disorganization  of  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  kingdom. 

To  the  above-named  commissioners  a  paper  was  presented,  August 
30,  intituled,  The  exceptions  of  the  Presbyterian  brethren  against  some 
passages  in  the  Liturgy  :  accompanied  by  a  very  humble  address,  to 
the  most  Rev.  Archbishop  and  Bishops,  and  the  Reverend  their  Assist- 
ants, commissioned  by  his  Majesty  to  treat  about  the  alteration  of  the. 
Common  Prayer. 

These  exceptions  at  various  sessions  were  taken  into  consideration  : 
but  scarcely  any  concessions  of  moment  were  made  by  the  episcopal 
party.  And  the  Presbyterians,  in  the  answers  given  to  their  exceptions, 
were  often  treated  with  great  disrespect,  and  generally  in  a  manner 
little  calculated  to  conciliate  or  bring  about  unanimity. 

These  several  proceedings  were  delivered  to  the  king  by  the  bishop*, 
and  form  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  closely  printed  quarto  pages. 

It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  no  agreement  took  place  between  the 
parties  ;  and  the  Presbyterians  judging  themselves  not  fairly  represent- 


16  HISTORY  OF  THE  ACT  OF  UNIFORMITY. 

ed,  delivered  a  very  moving  petition  to  the  king ;  modestly  stating  their 
grievances,  and  imploring  his  protection,  reminding  him  of  his  promise, 
that  none  should  be  punished  or  troubled  for  not  using  the  Common 
Prayer,  till  it  should  be  effectually  reformed.  And  foreseeing  that  a 
rigorous  Jlci  of  Uniformity  was  about  to  be  made,  they  conclude  thus : — 
We  crave  your  majesty's  pardon  for  the  tediousness  of  this  address,  and 
shall  wait  in  hope  that  so  great  a  calamity  of  your  people,  as  will  follow 
the  loss  of  so  many  able  faithful  ministers,  as  the  rigorous  imposition 
would  cast  out,  shall  never  be  recorded  in  the  history  of  your  reign  :  but 
that  these  impediments  of  concord  being  forborne,  your  kingdom  may 
flourish  in  piety  and  peace.  That  this  may  be  the  signal  honour  of 
your  happy  reign,  and  your  joy  in  the  day  of  your  account,  is  the  prayer 
of  your  majestifs  faithful  and  obedient  subjects. 

Whether  the  king  were  disposed  to  favour  them,  or  had  forgotten  his 
promises,  is,  at  this  time,  a  matter  of  little  importance.  Every  thing 
was  carried  with  a  high  and  inconsiderate  hand  ;  and  the  ACT  OF  UNI- 
FORMITY was  constructed  on  the  grounds  proposed  by  the  bishops,  and 
passed  into  a  LAW. 

To  save  the  reader  the  trouble  of  going  elsewhere  to  consult  this  act, 
as  tedious  and  monotonous  as  it  was  oppressive,  I  shall  here  present 
him  with  the  sum  and  substance  of  it,  as  far  as  it  affected  the  con- 
sciences and  privileges  of  the  opposite  party. 

"  Be  it  enacted,  That  all  and  singular  ministers  in  any  cathedral, 
collegiate,  or  parish  church  or  chapel,  or  other  place  of  public  worship, 
Within  this  realm  of  England,  dominion  of  Wales,  and  town  of  Berwick- 
upon-Tweed,  shall  be  bound  to  say  and  use  the  morning  prayer, 
evening  prayer,  celebration  and  administration  of  both  the  sacraments  ; 
and  all  other  the  public  and  common  prayer,  in  such  order  and  form, 
as  it  is  rnentioned  in  the  said  book  annexed  and  joined  to  this  present 
act  and  intituled 

"  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  Administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  other  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  according  to  the 
use  of  the  Church  of  England  :  together  with  the  Psalter  or  Psalms  of 
David,  pointed  as  they  a*e  to  be  sung  or  said  in  churches  :  and  the 
form  or  manner  of  making,  ordaining,  and  consecrating  of  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons. 

"  And  the  morning  and  evening  prayers  therein  contained  shall  upon 
every  Lord's  day,  and  upon  all  other  days  and  occasions,  and  at  the 
time  therein  appointed,  be  openly  and  solemnly  read,  by  all  and  every 
minister  or  curate,  in  every  church  or  chapel,  or  other  place  of  public 
worship,  within  this  realm  of  England  and  places  aforesaid. 

"  Be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  every  parson, 
vicar,  or  other  minister  whatsoever,  who  now  hath  and  enjoyeth  any 
ecclesiastical  benefice  or  promotion  within  this  realm  of  England,  or 
places  aforesaid,  shall  in  the  church,  chapel,  or  place  of  public  worship, 
belonging  to  the  said  benefice  or  promotion,  upon  some  day  before  the 
Feast  of  Saint  Bartholomew,  (August  24,)  which  shall  be  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  God  1662,  openly,  publicly,  and  solemnly  read  the  morning 
and  evening  prayer  appointed  to  be  read  by,  and  according  to  the  said 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  at  the  times  thereby  appointed  :  and  aftei 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ACT   OF    UNIFORMITY.  17 

such  reading  thereof  shall  openly,  and  publicly,  before  the  congrega- 
tion there  assembled,  declare  his  unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to  the 
use,  and  all  things  in  the  said  book  contained  and  prescribed,  in  these 
words  and  no  other  ; 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  hereby  declare  my  unfeigned  assent  to  all  and 
every  thing  contained  and  prescribed  in  and  by  the  book,  intituled, 
The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  other  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  England  ; 
together  with  the  Psalter,  or  Psalms  of  David,  pointed  as  they  are 
to  be  sung  or  said  in  churches :  and  the  form  and  manner  of  making, 
ordaining,  and  consecrating  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons. 
"  And  that  all  and  every  such  person  who  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to 
do  the  same  within  the  time  aforesaid,  shall  ipso  facto,  be  deprived  of  all 
his  spiritual  promotions :  and  that  from  thenceforth  it  shall  be  lawful  to 
and  for  all  patrons  and  donors  of  all  and  singular  the  said  spiritual 
promotions,  or  of  any  of  them,  according  to  their  respective  rights  and 
titles,  to  present  or  collate  to  the  same,  as  though  the  person  or  persons 
so  offending  or  neglecting  were  dead. 

"  That  no  person  shall  be  capable  of  being  admitted  to  any  parson- 
age, &c,  or  to  consecrate  and  administer  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  before  such  time  as  he  shall  be  ordained  priest  by  episcopal 
ordination,  upon  pain  to  forfeit  for  every  offence  the  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred pounds. 

"  That  if  any  person  who  is  by  this  act  disabled  to  preach  any  lecture 
or  sermon  shall,  during  the  time  that  he  shall  continue  and  remain  so 
disabled,  preach  any  sermon  or  lecture,  that  then  for  every  stifh  offence 
the  person  and  persons  so  offending  shall  suffer  three  months1  imprison- 
ment in  the  common  jail,  without  bail  or  mainprise." 

The  same  act  required  "  every  schoolmaster  and  private  tutor  to  be 
licensed  by  the  archbishop  or  ordinary  of  the  diocess,  on  the  penalty, 
for  the  first  offence  of  three  months'  imprisonment ;  and  for  every  repeti- 
tion of  the  offence,  three  months'  imprisonment  and  five  pounds  to  the 
king." 

I  shall  here  beg  leave  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  this  act  in  reference 
to  the  case  of  the  persons  shortly  to  be  introduced  to  the  reader's  notice. 

1.  The  act,  whether  considered  good  or  bad  politically,  was  an 
absolute  breach  of  the  king's  solemn  declaration  and  engagement  to 
the  Dissenters,  and  indeed  to  the  nation,  while  he  was  at  Breda,  ns  we 
have  already  seen ;  and  argues  that  either  he  was  a  man  of  no  moral 
principle,  had  no  regard  to  his  honour  nor  to  his  promise,  or  that  his 
ministers  were  cruel  and  malicious  men,  who  well  knew  the  religious 
scruples  of  many  of  his  best  friends,  and  how  they  must  be  in  every 
way  injured  by  the  passing  of  such  an  act. 

2.  The  breach  of  promise  made  to  the  Dissenters  was  a  most  dan- 
gerous measure,  as  it  put  to  too  severe  a  test  the  loyalty  of  a  great  part 
of  the  nation,  and  served  to  widen  the  breach  between  them  and  the 
Established  Church;  the  rulers  of  which,  they  had  too  much  reason  to 
believe,  were  the  principal  promoters  of  this  measure. 

3.  The  act  required  from  every  minister  a  solemn  declaration,  while 
ministering  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  (more  solemn,  if  possible, 

3 


18  HISTORY   OF   THE   ACT   OF   UNIFORMITY. 

than  any  oath,)  of  his  unfeigned  assent  to  ALL  and  EVERY  thing  contained 
in,  and  prescribed  by,  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, — the  Psalter,  as 
there  printed  and  pointed,  and  to  all  the  rites  and  ceremonies  therein 
enjoined.  Now  this  is  more  than  any  man  can  with  a  pure  conscience 
say  of  any  human  composition  of  devotion.  The  Bible  alone,  as  it 
came  from  God,  can  be  thus  safely  acknowledged ;  and  not  even  a 
translation  of  that  most  sacred  book,  nor  any  of  the  ancient  Versions 
in  which  it  has  been  handed  down  to  posterity.  Though  I  regard  the 
Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  as  the  purest  form  of  devotion  ever 
composed  by  man,  and  next  in  excellence  to  the  inspired  volume,  yet 
there  are  words  and  phrases  in  it  to  which  I  could  not  declare  my  assent ; 
and  as  to  the  Psalter  contained  in  that  book,  it  is  in  many  places  a.  false 
and  inefficient  translation,  foreign  from  the  Hebrew  verity,  with  the 
insertion  of  a  multitude  of  words  which  have  nothing  corresponding  to 
them  in  the  original;  while  printed  as  if  they  were  the  words  of  the  Holy 
Spirit!  And  as  to  the  pointing,  it  is  generally  barbarous,  and  often 
destructive  of  the  sense.  What  divine,  who  ever  read  a  Psalm  of 
David  in  the  original,  could  give  his  solemn  assent  to  this  composition 
as  it  now  stands  ( 

4.  This  act  was  intended  as  a  snare  to  catch  many  upright  men. 
Many  of  the  clergy  of  those  times  doubted  greatly  whether  the  hierachy 
were  exactly  conformable  to  Scripture.     Lord  King's  position  that 
bishops  and  presbyters  were  the  same  order  was  a  very  general  opinion 
among  those  afterward  called  Nonconformists ;  and  was  the  opinion  of 
the  late  Mr.  John  Wesley.    These  were  fully  convinced  that  ordination 
by  presbyters  was  a  valid  and  Scriptural  ordination ;  and  many  of  the 
clergy  at  that  time  had  none  other.     But  the  act,  without  Scripture  or 
reason,  annuls  and  sweeps  this  away  at  a  stroke  ;  and  none  is  permitted 
to  minister  in  holy  things  unless  episcopally  ordained;  an  ordination 
which  not  one  of  them  could  procure,  unless  he  had  been  in  every  sense 
a  thorough  conformist. 

5.  The  act  took  upon  it  to  restrain  and  destroy,  as  far  as  it  could, 
the  spirit  of  prophecy,  or  the  gift  of  Christian  preaching.     Many  of 
those  excellent  men  believed  themselves  fully  called  of  God  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry.     But  this  act  forbade  them  to  preach  unless  they  had 
episcopal  ordination ;  and  although  a  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  was 
committed  unto  them,  and  God  pronounced  a  wo  on  such  as  preached  it 
not ;  yet  one  sermon  or  lecture  of  the  person  who  did  not,  because  he 
could  not,  conform  as  above,  was  punished  by  three  months1  imprisonment 
in  the  common  jail ;  and  those  who  had  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  could 
not  be  silent,  were  thus  treated  ;  and  with  circumstances  of  relentless 
rigour. 

6.  The  act  was  not  only  persecuting,  but  unjust,  as  it  deprived  of  the 
means  of  subsistence  men  who  were  educated  for  this  function ;  who 
had  been  regularly,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  inducted  and 
employed  in  it,  and  had  the  subsistence  of  themselves  and  their  families 
from  it.     But  in  one  day  upward  of  two  thousand  of  them  were  left 
without  a  morsel  of  bread,  because  they  would  not  defile  their  con- 
sciences by  solemnly  affirming  what  they  did  not  believe. 

7.  The  act  was  cruel ;  as  it  endeavoured  to  prevent  them  from  getting 


HISTORY  OP  THE  ACT  OF   UNIFORMITY.  19 

their  bread  by  public  or  private  teaching,  as  schoolmasters  and  tutors, 
unless  licensed  by  the  archbishop  or  ordinary  of  the  diocess,  under  the 
penalty  of  three  montlis'  imprisonment ;  and  for  every  repetition  of  this 
offence,  so  called,  three  months'  imprisonment  and  five  pounds  to  the 
king.  And  the  reader  may  rest  assured  that  the  minister  who  could 
not  conscientiously  assent  to  EVERY  thing  in  the  Prayer  Book  was  not 
likely  to  be  licensed  by  a  bishop  as  a  teacher  of  youth. 

8.  The  act  had  as  much  respect  to  rites  and  ceremonies  as  to  prayert 
and  preaching ;  hence  it  required  every  minister  "  openly  and  publicly 
before  the  congregation  to  declare  his  unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to 
the  USE  of  all  things  in  the  said  book  contained  and  prescribed."  But 
notwithstanding  the  general  excellence  of  this  book,  it  would  puzzle  the 
first  casuist  in  the  Church  to  show  the  moral  or  spiritual  use  of  several 
things  therein  contained  and  prescribed. 

I  have  made  these  remarks  to  show  the  nature  and  operations  of  this, 
at  that  time  the  most  illiberal  and  malicious  act,  in  order  to  vindicate 
the  persons  who  were  its  victims  ;  who  because  of  their  conscientious 
steadiness,  have  been  represented  as  foolish,  fanatical,  and  obstinate 
men  ;  because  they  would  not  solemnly  affirm  what  they  did  not  believe. 
And  for  my  own  part,  far  from  being  surprised  that  so  great  a  number 
as  two  thousand  and  twenty-fine  according  to  Mr.  Palmer's  reckoning, 
were  cast  out  of  the  Church  in  one  day,  I  am  rather  surprised  that  one 
learned  or  conscientious  minister  was  found,  on  the  requisitions  of  the 
act,  to  retain  his  living. 

High  churchmen  may  "  extol  the  authors  and  framers  of  this  act  as 
deserving  the  everlasting  praises  and  blessings  of  the  Church."  But 
while  honesty,  or  rendering  to  every  man  his  due,  can  be  considered  a 
blessing  in  society,  and  the  steady  attendant  upon  justice — while 
humanity  and  mercy  are  esteemed  the  choicest  characteristics  of  man, 
and  while  sound  learning  is  valued  as  the  ornament  and  handmaid  of 
religion, — this  act,  in  its  operation  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  (August 
24,  1662)  must  be  regarded  as  a  scandal  to  the  State,  and  a  reproach 
to  the  Church. 

No  doubt  the  reader  has  already  considered  me  as  a  rigid  Dissenter, 
because  of  the  above  review  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  in  its  predisposing 
causes,  and  subsequent  effects  :  but  he  is  highly  mistaken.  Bred  up 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  I  am  strongly  attached  to  it  from  principle 
and  conscience ;  and  notwithstanding  the  blots,  the  existence  of  which 
in  the  Liturgy  I  cannot  deny,  I  would  not  change  that  form  of  sound 
words  for  any  thing  that  dissent  could  offer  me  as  a  substitute.  But  I 
abominate  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  for  ils  oppression,  injustice,  and  cruelty; 
and  because  it  gave  a  blow  to  the  piety  of  the  National  Church,  from 
which  it  is  still  but  slowly  recovering.  It  deprived  her  of  multitudes 
of  her  brightest  ornaments,  whose  works  have  been  a  credit  and  a 
bulwark  to  the  Reformation,  and  still  praise  them  in  the  gates.  Neither 
interest  nor  disaffection  prompts  this  eulogium  !  Fiat  justitia ;  ruat 
ccelum ! 


20 

OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 
The  Rei\  Bartholomeiv  Wesley,  Mr.  J.  Wesley's  Great  Grandfather. 

FROM  whatever  part  of  the  world  the  family  of  the  Wesleys  may 
have  originally  come,  whether  from  Asiatic,  Spanish,  or  Saxon  pro- 
genitors ;  or  whether  indigenous  in  Britain,  through  a  long  train  of 
ancestry ;  posterity  can  mount  no  higher  in  tracing  it  than  to  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century :  but  so  far  as  we  can  trace  it 
back,  to  use  the  words  of  one  of  Mr.  J.  Wesley's  biographers,  "  his 
ancestors  appear  respectable  for  learning,  conspicuous  for  piety,  and 
firmly  attached  to  those  views  of  Christianity  which  they  had  formed 
from  the  sacred  Scriptures." 

The  Rev.  Bartholomew  Wesley,  great  grandfather  to  the  founder 
of  the  Methodists,  is  mentioned  by  Hitchins  among  the  rectors  of 
Cathtrston,  in  Dorsetshire,  in  the  year  1650.  And  in  the  year  1662 
we  find  him  among  those  who  sufferedby  the  aforesaid  Act  of  Uniformity; 
being  ejected  from  his  living  of  Charmouth,  a  village  in  the  same  place, 
remarkable  for  its  singular  situation  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  which  is  one 
thousand  and  five  feet  high,  and  opposite  to  another  which  is  nine 
hundred  and  seventy  feet.  His  own  name  was  to  him  ominous,  as  he 
was  deprived  of  every  earthly  good,  and  suspended  from  his  ministerial 
functions  on  the  festival  of  the  saint  after  whom  he  was  called.  He 
was  succeeded  in  his  living  of  Charmouth  by  a  person  of  the  name  of 
Burd,  or  Bird,  October  14, 1662.  See  the  Nonconformist's  Memorial, 
by  Palmer,  vol.  ii,  p.  125. 

I  cannot  find  of  what  university  or  college  he  was  :  but  most  probably 
of  Oxford.  Dr.  Calamy  states,  that  when  he  was  at  the  university  he 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  physic  as  well  as  divinity.  In  the  former 
practice  he  appears  to  have  acquired  some  celebrity ;  for  while  he  wa« 
in  his  living  of  Charmouth,  he  was  often  consulted  as  a  physician  ;  and 
after  his  ejectment  he  applied  himself  chiefly  to  this  profession,  and 
gained  a  livelihood  by  it ;  though  he  continued  as  the  times  would 
permit,  to  preach  occasionally. 

It  appears  from  the  history  of  the  Nonconformists,  that  many  of  the 
ministers  when  ejected  had  recourse  to  the  practice  of  physic  for  a 
subsistence  ;  as  there  were  no  other  means  left  in  their  power  by  which 
they  might  gain  their  bread.  They  were  proscribed  and  incapacitated 
as  preachers,  both  in  public  and  private,  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity ;  and 
though  their  learned  education  had  qualified  them  to  be  instructers  of 
youth  as  public  schoolmasters,  or  to  give  private  tuition  in  the  families 
of  the  nobility  and  gentry ;  yet,  this  also  was  on  grievous  penalties 
proscribed  by  the  act :  hence  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  study  and 
practise  medicine.  For  this,  some  had  received  previous  qualifications 
at  the  university,  as  was  the  case  of  Mr.  Bartholomew  Wesley.  But 
others  had  no  advantage  of  this  kind  ;  and,  therefore,  practised  at  great 
hazard.  This  caused  one  of  them  to  say  to  the  persons  by  whom  the 
ejectment  was  put  in  force  against  him,  "  I  perceive  that  this  is  like  to 
occasion  the  death  of  many."  The  commissioners,  supposing  these 
words  to  savour  of  contumacy  and  rebellion,  questioned  him  severely 


BARTHOLOMEW   WESLEY.  21 

on  the  subject.  To  whom  he  replied,  "  that  being  deprived  by  the  act 
of  every  means  of  getting  his  bread  in  those  ways  for  which  he  was 
qualified,  he  must  have  recourse  to  the  practice  of  medicine,  which  he 
did  not  properly  understand ;  and  thereby  the  lives  of  many  of  his 
patients  would  most  probably  be  endangered." 

This  was  no  doubt  the  case  in  very  many  instances.  They  acted 
according  to  the  best  they  knew,  in  order  to  help  their  neighbours  and 
gain  an  honest  livelihood :  but  like  many,  even  to  the  present  day, 
though  useful  where  disease  bore  no  uncommon  type,  were  often  de- 
ceived by  fallacious  appearances,  and  took  the  more  prominent  symp- 
toms, which  were  only  indications  of  complication,  or  of  spurious  morbid 
action,  as  the  immediate  cause  of  the  disorder;  prescribed  accordingly; 
and  thereby  formed  a  new  disease,  which  not  unfrequently  terminated 
the  life  of  the  unhappy  patient. 

If  regular  and  well  educated  practitioners  be  liable  to  make  such 
mistakes,  and  nothing  is  more  certain  ;  what  must  it  be  with  the  un- 
skilful, and  the  immense  colluvies  of  quack  doctors,  who  now  vend 
medicines  for  the  infallible  cure  of  every  disorder,  under  authority  of 
indisputable  patents  ! 

Dr.  Garth  nervously  describes  the  ruin  spread  through  society  by 
licensed  and  unlicensed  empirics  :  JVow  tamen  tells  Mineral  ista  agyr- 
tarum  colluvies,  sed  theriaca  quadam  magii  perniciosa :  non  pyris  sed 
pulvere  necio  quo  exotica  certat ;  non  globulis  plumbeis,  sed  pilulisque 
lethalibus  interficit. 

"  This  herd  of  vermin  inflict  no  wound  by  daggers ;  but  by  a  certain 
mithridate  much  more  pernicious.  They  arm  not  themselves  with 
cataplasms ;  but  with  a  species  of  unknown  exotic  powder.  They  kill 
not  with  leaden  bullets ;  but  with  pills  equally  lethal." 

From  Dr.  Calamy's  account,  it  appears  that  Mr.  Wesley's  preach- 
ing was  not  very  popular ;  owing,  he  says,  to  a  peculiar  plainness  of 
speech.  In  what  this  consisted  we  are  not  told  :  but  this  we  well  know, 
that  plainness  of  speech,  while  the  sense  is  good,  and  the  doctrine  sound 
would  not  prevent  the  popularity  of  any  preacher  in  the  present  day. 
His  great  grandson  studied  the  utmost  plainness  of  speech  in  all  his 
ministrations, — yet  who  more  popular !  who  more  successful ! 

Mr.  Bartholomew  Wesley  does  not  appear  to  have  lived  long  after 
his  ejectment :  but  when  he  died  is  uncertain.  All  that  we  know. is 
this,  that  he  was  so  affected  by  the  premature  death  of  his  excellent  son 
John,  who  was  also  a  minister,  that  his  health  rapidly  declined,  and  he 
did  not  long  survive  him.  This  must  have  been  some  time  after  1670. 
See  the  succeeding  account  of  his  son  John. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  Mr.  B.  Wesley  by  Anthony  a  Wood,  in  the 
Jlthf.na-  Oionienses,  vol.  ii,  col.  963,  which  requires  examination. 

Speaking  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley,  sen.  rector  of  Epworth,  he  says, 

"  The  said  Samuel  Wesley  is  grandson  to Wesley,  the  fanatical 

ministar,  sometime  of  Charmouth,  in  Dorsetshire,  at  what  time  [1651] 
the  Lord  Wilmot  and  King  Charles  II.  had  like  to  have  been  by  him 
betrayed,  when  they  continued  incognito  in  that  country." 

Though  a  good  sire  may  have  a  bad  son,  and  a  good  son  a  bad  sire ; 
and  the  delinquency  of  ancestors  should  not  be  imputed  to  their  poste- 


22  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

rity ;  yet  I  own  I  should  feel  grieved  could  a  charge  of  treachery  be 
fairly  proved  against  the  Wesley  family  ;  or  that  it  could  be  made  to 
appear  that  it  had  ever  produced  a  person  disaffected  to  the  state. 

I  have  taken  some  pains  to  inquire  into  the  authenticity  of  this  story 
so  confidently  related  by  Wood. 

In  the  wonderful  adventures  of  Charles  II.,  in  his  attempts  to  recover 
his  paternal  kingdom,  the  story  of  his  nanow  escape  at  Charmouth  is 
told  by  most  of  our  historians  and  annalists.  . 

It  appears  that  Lord  JVilmot  and  Colonel  Wyndham,  who  had  ac- 
companied the  king  in  disguise,  aflerhis  unfortunate  defeat  at  Worcester, 
September  3d,  1651,  wishing  to  escape  to  the  continent,  came  to  Lyme 
in  Dorsetshire  ;  and  agreed  with  one  Limbry,  master  of  a  small  sloop 
of  thirty  tons,  then  bound  to  St.  Malo,  to  take  over  two  gentlemen,  and 
land  them  on  any  part  of  the  French  coast.  The  vessel  then  lay  at  the 
Cable  in  Lyme  ;  and  the  owner  having  agreed  to  bring  it  out  to  a  little 
creek  near  Charmouth,  his  majesty  and  his  party,  deeply  disguised, 
waited  for  its  arrival. 

Lord  Clarendon  states,  that  while  they  were  waiting,  the  day  having 
been  appointed  by  the  parliament  for  a  solemn  fast,  a  fanatical  weaver, 
who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  parliament  army,  was  preaching  against 
the  king,  in  a  little  chapel  fronting  the  obscure  inn  where  his  majesty 
had  stopped.  Charles,  to  avoid  suspicion,  was  among  the  audience.  It 
happened  that  a  smith  of  the  same  principles  with  the  weaver,  who  had 
been  called  to  fasten  on  a  shoe  belonging  to  the  king's  horse,  came  to 
inform  the  preacher,  that  he  knew  from  the  fashion  of  the  shoes  that  the 
horse  had  come  from  the  north.  The  preacher  immediately  affirmed 
that  this  horse  could  belong  to  no  other  than  Charles  Stuart ;  and  in- 
stantly went  with  a  constable  to  search  the  inn.  But  the  king  being 
disappointed  of  the  vessel  that  was  to  come  out  for  him  in  the  night, 
and  take  him  to  the  French  coast,  had  left  the  inn,  and  was  gone  with 
Colonel  Wyndham  to  Bridport,  and  thus  escaped. 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  relation  given  by  Lord  Clarendon,  who 
does  not  mention  the  name  of  the  preacher ;  but  merely  tells  us  that  he 
was  a  fanatical  weaver,  and  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  parliament  army. 

Here  we  might  rest,  and  safely  affirm  that  the  story  of  Anthony  a 
Wood  is  confuted,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  Bartholomew  Wesley ;  as  none 
of  these  characters  belong  to  him.  There  is  no  evidence  that  while  he 
enjoyed  the  living  of  Charmouth,  (which  he  did  at  this  time,  1651,  and 
continued  to  do  till  ejected  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity  in  1662,)  he  had 
been  a  weaver,  or  had  ever  served  in  the  parliament  army.  He  appears 
to  have  been  regularly  bred  at  the  university  for  a  minister,  and  never 
to  any  handicraft  business.  He  is  reckoned  among  the  rectors  of 
Catherston,  and  had  the  living  of  Charmouth,  and  consequently  would 
not  be  reputed  &  fanatical  preacher. 

The  story  therefore  to  which  Anthony  a  Wood  alludes,  as  told  by 
Lord  Clarendon,  is  wholly  inapplicable  to  Bartholomew  Wesley. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  where  did  Wood  get  the  name  of  Wesley,  that 
he  so  circumstantially  appropriates  to  the  rector  of  Epworth's  grand- 
father? I  answer, — He  got  it  partly  by  mistaking  a  name,  and  partly 
from  his  own  invention.  I  shall  produce  the  proof. 


BARTHOLOMEW    XVESLET.  23 

We  have  a  very  circumstantial  relation  of  the  king's  escape  from 
Worcester,  taken  from  his  own  mouth  by  Mr.  Pepys,  Secretary  to  the 
Admiralty,  in  several  days  attendance  for  that  purpose.  In  that 
authentic  relation,  the  story  as  inserted  by  Mr.  Carte,  (in  his  General 
History  of  England,)  no  friend  to  Nonconformists,  is  as  follows  : — 

"  The  king  with  his  company  sat  up  all  night,  expecting  the  ship  to 
come  out,  (t.  e.  out  of  the  Cable,  to  come  to  the  creek  near  Charmouth, 
according  to  agreement,  see  before,)  and  upon  her  failure,  Wilmot  was 
sent  with  Peters,  a  servant  of  Colonel  Wyndham's,  to  Lyme  the  next 
morning,  to  know  the  reason.  Being  troubled  how  to  spend  the  day, 
the  horses  were  ordered  to  be  got  ready,  and  the  king's  which  carried 
double,  (for  he  rode  before  Mrs.  Judith  Conisby,  as  a  servant,  by  the 
name  of  William  Jackson,}  having  a  shoe  loose,  a  smith  was  sent  for, 
who  looking  over  the  shoes  of  the  other  horses,  he  said  he  knew  that 
some  of  them  had  been  shod  near  Worcester.  When  he  had  fastened 
the  shoes,  he  went  presently  to  consult  Westby,  a  rigid  foolish  Pres- 
byterian minister  of  Charmouth,  who  was  then  in  a  Ion g-windcd  prayer ; 
and  before  he  had  done,  the  king  was  gone  on  with  Mrs.  Conisby  and 
Mr.  Wyndham  to  Bridport." 

Now,  it  may  be  allowed  that  Westby  may  be  a  mistake  for  Weslley, 
or  Westley  for  Westby ;  and  therefore  there  is  no  evidence  here  that 
Bartholomew  Wesley  is  intended  :  but  were  there  even  no  doubt 
concerning  the  name,  yet  the  pretended  fact,  so  positively  affirmed  by 
the  author  of  the  Jlthcnce,  that  Lord  Wilmot  and  King  Charles  II.  had 
like  to  have  been  by  him  betrayed,  when  they  continued  incognito  in  that 
country,  is  wholly  unsubstantiated ;  for  there  is  not  a  word  said  by 
Mr.  Pepys,  who  took  the  relation  from  the  king's  own  mouth,  of  any 
attempt,  secret  or  outward,  on  the  part  of  this  Westby  to  betray  the  king  : 
for  the  account  only  states  that  the  smith  went  to  consult  this  Westby , 
who  was  then  in  a  long-winded  prayer;  and  before  he  had  done  the 
king  had  departed  for  Bridport.  Nor  is  there  any  hint  that  this  so 
called  rigid,  foolish,  Presbyterian  minister  took  any  steps  to  discover 
the  king.  Betray  him  he  could  not,  because  he  was  not  in  his  confi- 
dence,— nor  is  it  hinted  that  the  smith  communicated  his  supposed 
discovery  to  the  preacher,  or  that  he  even  waited  till  he  had  finished 
his  long-winded  prayer. 

Lord  Clarendon  does  state  that  the  fanatical  weaver,  who  had  been 
a  soldier,  did  get  a  constable,  and  went  to  detect  the  king,  but  he  gives 
no  name ;  thd  by  the  preacher  having  been  a  soldier,  and  then  a  weaver, 
it  must  be  evident  for  the  reasons  above  assigned  that  Bartholomew 
Wesley  could  not  be  intended. 

There  might  have  been  a  preacher  at  Charmouth  of  the  name  of 
Westby,  who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  parliament  army  and  then  a 
weaver ;  and  as  Anthony  a  Wood  must  have  known  that  Mr.  Bartholo- 
mew Wesley  had  the  living  of  Charmouth,  for  he  was  contemporary,  he 
applied  to  the  regular  divine  what  was  only  true  of  him  whom  he  calls 
the /ana/tea/  minister.  But  Wood's  evidence  is  little  worth,  for  he  was 
a  man  of  a  bitter  and  intolerant  spirit,  much  more  inclined  to  the  Church 
of  Rome  than  to  the  Protestant  Church  of  England.  Bishop  Burnet, 
who  lived  at  the  same  time,  and  was  well  acquainted  with  the  virulence 


24  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

of  his  spirit,  gives  him  the  following  character  in  a  letter  to  the  bishop 
of  Litchfield  and  Coventry  : — 

"  That  poor  writer  has  thrown  together  such  a  tumultuary  mixture 
of  stuff' and  tattle,  and  has  been  so  visibly  a  tool  of  some  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  reproach  all  the  greatest  men  of  our  Church,  that  no  man 
who  takes  care  of  his  own  reputation  will  take  any  thing  upon  trust 
that  is  said  by  one  who  has  no  reputation  to  lose." 

I  contend,  therefore,  that  the  tale  of  Jlnthony  d  Wood  is  unlikely, 
inconsistent, -and  absurd,  as  it  relates  to  Mr.  B.  Wesley  ;  and  we  need 
not  wonder  that  th«  man  who  was  capable  of  styling  the  celebrated 
John  Locke  a  prating  troublesome  fellow,  should  call  Mr.  B.  Wesley 
the  fanatical  minister  of  Charmouth. 

To  conclude,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  search  into  the  political 
principles  of  this  family,  especially  from  the  days  of  the  rector  of 
Epworth,  I  have  found  their  sentiments  of  loyalty  among  the  strongest 
and  purest  I  have  ever  known. 

As  this  principle  has  descended  to  the  last  branches  of  the  family, 
(for  it  is  now  nearly  extinct,)  each  appears  to  have  possessed  it  as  a 
kind  of  heirloom  that  has  been  handed  down  from  the  lemotest  ancestry. 
John,  Mr.  Wesley's  grandfather,  appears  to  have  been  shaken  for  a 
time  in  his  attachment  to  the  house  of  Stuart,  from  the  conviction  that 
was  very  common  in  the  country,  that  Charles  I.  was  endeavouring  to 
alter  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom,  establish  an  arbitrary  government, 
and  bring  back  Popery :  but  on  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  he 
cheerfully  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  faithfully  kept  it  to  the  end 
of  his  life. 

Doubts  also  relative  to  the  legitimacy  of  the  Orange  succession,  in 
prejudice  of  James  II.  and  his  heirs,  were  entertained  by  some  of  the 
collateral  branches  of  the  family:  but  their  principles  of  loyalty  could 
never  be  successfully  impeached ;  and  these  very  scruples  arose  from 
their  high  sense  of  duty  and  loyalty,  which  this  history  will  show  was 
carried  to  as  great  lengths  as  moderation  could  at  all  justify.  And  it 
should  not  escape  the  notice  of  the  historian,  as  it  cannot  the  attention 
of  the  politician  and  philosopher,  that  the  immense  body  of  Methodists, 
who  may  be  properly  called  the  spiritual  progeny  of  the  last  great  men 
of  this  family,  have  imbibed  the  same  spirit,  and  have  been  as  remark- 
able for  their  loyalty,  as  they  have  been  for  the  simplicity  of  their 
manners,  the  purity  of  their  doctrine,  and  their  zeal  for  the  best  interests 
of  their  fellow  creatures. 


THE  REV.  JOHN  WESLEY,  A.  M. 
Vicar  of  Winierborn,  Dorsetshire,  Mr.  Wesley's  Grandfather. 

THIS  gentleman,  who  was  the  ?on  of  the  Rev.  Bartholomew  Wesley 
mentioned  above,  was  very  religiously  brought  up,  and  dedicated  by 
his  pious  father  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  from  his  earliest  youth ; 
the  consequence  was  what  might  have  been  expected,  he  remembered 
bis  Creator  in,  and  indeed  from,  the  days  of  his  youth.  He  was  deeply 


JOHN    WESLEY    OF    WHITCHURCH.  25 

convinced  of  sin,  and  had  a  serious  concern  for  his  salvation,  when  a 
lad  at  school ;  and  soon  after  God  began  to  work  upon  his  soul  he 
kept  a  diary,  in  which  he  recorded  not  only  the  most  remarkable  events 
of  God's  providence  in  his  behalf,  but  more  especially  the  operations 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  upon  his  heart,  and  how  he  felt  himself  affected  by 
the  various  means  which  his  heavenly  Father  used  for  his  salvation, 
whether  in  the  way  of  afflictive  providences  or  gracious  visitations. 

This  course  he  continued  with  little  intermission  to  the  end  of  his 
life  ;  and  it  was  probably  his  example,  which  he  must  have  known,  that 
led  his  grandson,  the  founder  of  the  Methodists,  to  follow  the  same 
practice ;  and  whose  journals  are  an  uncommon  treasury  of  sound 
learning  and  just  criticism,  and  of  records  concerning  the  gracious 
influence  of  God  on  ministerial  labours,  unprecedented  and  unparalleled. 

At  a  proper  age  he  was  entered  of  JVew  Inn  Hall,  Oxford  ;  and  in 
due  course  proceeded  A.  M.  During  his  stay  at  the  university  he  was 
noticed  for  his  seriousness  and  diligence.  He  applied  himself  particu- 
larly to  the  study  of  the  Oriental  languages,  in  which  he  is  said  to  have 
made  great  proficiency. 

Dr.  John  Owen,  who  was  then  vice-chancellor  of  the  university, 
tihowed  him  great  kindness. 

He  began  to  preach  occasionally  at  the  age  of  twenty-two ;  and 
in  May,  1658,  he  was  sent  to  preach  at  tVhitchurch,  (Winterborn) 
a  vicarage,  the  income  of  which  was  about  thirty  pounds  per  annum. 
He  was  promised  an  augmentation  of  one  hundred  pounds  a  year ;  but 
the  many  changes  in  public  affairs  which  took  place  soon  after,  prevented 
him  from  ever  receiving  any  part  of  it. 

Mr.  Wesley  was  respectable  in  his  matrimonial  connections.  He 
married  a  niece  of  Dr.  Thomas  Fuller,  prebend  of  Salisbury,  rector 
of  Broad  Windsor,  and  chaplain  extraordinary  to  Charles  II.  This 
divine  was  not  only  eminent  for  his  learning  and  writings,  but  for  his 
prodigious  memory.  He  could  repeat  a  sermon  verbatim  from  once 
hearing  it ;  and  undertook  in  passing  to  and  from  Temple  Bar  to  the 
Poultry  to  tell  every  sign  as  it  stood  in  order,  on  both  sides  of  the  way, 
and  to  repeat  them  either  backward  or  forward  ;  and  this  task  he  actu- 
ally performed  I 

Dr.  Fuller  in  all  his  works  affects  a  very  quaint  style,  though  it  is 
always  terse  and  nervous.  He  was  fond  of  PUNNING  on  others,  and 
was  sometimes  paid  in  his  own  coin.  Being  in  company  with  a 
gentleman  whose  name  was  SPARROWHAWK,  the  doctor,  who  was  very 
corpulent,  facetiously  said,  "  Pray,  sir,  what  is  the  difference  between 
an  owl  and  a  sparrowhawk  ?"  The  gentleman  immediately  answered, — 
"It  is  fuller  in  the  head,/u//cr  in  the  body,  and  fuller  all  over." 

He  waa  author  of  the  Church  History  of  Britain,  folio ; — A  De- 
fence of  it  against  Dr.  Peter  Heylin,  folio  ; — The  History  of  the  Holy 
War,  folio  ; — A  Pisgah't  Sight  of  Palestine,  folio; — A  History  of  the 
Worthies  of  England,  folio  ; — Jldronicus,  or  the  unfortunate  Politician, 
octavo  ; — Introductio  ad  Prudentiam,  or  Directions,  Counsels,  and 
Cautions,  tending  to  the  prudent  Management  of  Affairs  in  common  life ; 
composed  for  his  only  son,  duodecimo,  1726  :  a  very  excellent  and 
useful  work. 

1 


26  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

By  this  lady  Mr.  Wesley  had  two  sons,  Matthew  and  Samuel,  of  whom 
hereafter.  He  is  said  by  Dr.  Calamy  to  have  had  a  numerous  family: 
but  the  names  of  none  but  the  above  are  come  down  to  posterity. 

The  same  author  informs  us  that  because  of  this  growing  family 
he  was  obliged  to  set  up  a  school  in  order  to  maintain  it. 

It  appears  that,  like  his  father,  he  had  serious  scruples  to  using  the 
Common  Prayer  as  it  then  stood;  and,  soon  after  the  Restoration  some 
of  his  neighbours  gave  him  a  great  deal  of  trouble  on  this  account. 

Dr.  Gilbert  Ironside,  bishop  of  Bristol,  was  informed  by  some 
persons  of  distinction  that  Mr.  Wesley  would  not  use  the  Liturgy  ; 
and  beside,  they  stated  their  opinion  that  his  title  to  Whitchurch  waa 
not  valid ;  and  that  for  some  other  parts  of  his  conduct  he  might  be 
prosecuted  in  a  court  of  justice.  The  bishop  expressing  a  desire  to 
see  and  converse  with  him,  he  took  the  first  opportunity  to  wait  upon 
his  lordship  ;  and  had  the  following  interesting  conversation  with  him, 
which  he  entered  into  his  journal ;  and  from  which  it  was  transcribed 
by  Dr.  Calamy.  Though  this  journal  is  unfortunately  lost,  we  may 
be  thankful  for  the  extracts  which  the  indefatigable  Calamy  has  pre- 
served : — 

Bishop.     What  is  your  name  ? 

Wesley.     John  Wesley. 

Bishop.     There  are  many  great  matters  charged  upon  you. 

Wesley.  May  it  please  your  lordship,  Mr.  Herlock  was  at  my  house 
on  Tuesday  last,  and  acquainted  me  that  it  was  your  lordship's  desire 
that  I  should  come  to  you ;  and  on  that  account  I  am  here  to  wait 
upon  you. 

Bishop.     By  whom  were  you  ordained  1  Or,  are  you  ordained  ? 

Wesley.     I  am  sent  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

Bishop.     By  whom  were  you  sent  1 

Wesley.     By  a  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Bishop.     What  Church  is  that? 

Wesley.     The  Church  of  Christ  at  JWelcomb. 

Bishop.     That  factious  and  heretical  Church ! 

Wesley.  May  it  please  you,  sir,  I  know  no  faction  or  heresy  that 
that  Church  is  guilty  of. 

Bishop.  No  !  Did  not  you  preach  such  things  as  tend  to  faction 
and  heresy  ] 

Wesley.     I  am  not  conscious  to  myself  of  any  such  preaching. 

Bishop.  I  am  informed  by  sufficient  men,  gentlemen  of  honour  of 
this  county,  viz.  Sir  Gerrard  Napper,  Mr.  Freak,  and  Mr.  Tregonnel, 
of  your  doings.  What  say  you  ? 

Wesley.  Those  honoured  gentlemen  I  have  been  with,  who,  being 
by  others  misinformed,  proceeded  with  some  heat  against  me. 

Bishop.  There  are  the  oaths  of  several  honest  men  who  have 
observed  you, — and  shall  we  take  your  word  for  it  that  all  is  but  mis- 
information 1 

Wesley.  There  was  no  oath  given  or  taken.  Beside,  if  it  be 
enough  to  accuse,  who  shall  be  innocent  1  I  can  appeal  to  the  deter- 
mination of  the  great  day  of  judgment,  that  the  large  catalogue  of 
matter  laid  against  me  are  either  things  invented  or  mistaken. 


JOHN   WESLEY   OF   WHITCHURCH.  27 

Bishop.  Did  not  you  ride  with  your  sicord  in  the  time  of  the  com- 
mittee of  safety,  and  engage  with  them  1 

Wesley.  Whatever  imprudences  in  matters  civil  you  may  be  in- 
formed I  am  guilty  of,  I  shall  crave  leave  to  acquaint  your  lordship 
that  his  majesty  having  pardoned  them  fully,  and  I  having  suffered  on 
account  of  them  since  the  pardon,  I  shall  put  in  no  other  plea,  and 
waive  any  other  answer. 

Bishop.  In  what  manner  did  the  Church  you  speak  of  send  you  to 
preach  ?  At  this  rate  every  body  might  preach. 

Wesley.  Not  every  one.  Every  body  has  not  preaching  gifts  and 
preaching  graces.  Beside,  that  is  not  all  I  have  to  offer  to  your  lord- 
ship to  justify  my  preaching. 

Bishop.  If  you  preach  it  must  be  according  to  order;  the  order  of 
the  Church  of  England  upon  an  ordination. 

Wesley.     What  does  your  lordship  mean  by  an  ordination  ? 

Bishop.     Do  not  you  know  what  I  mean  1 

Wesley.     If  you  mean  that  sending  spoken  of  Rom.  x,  I  had  it. 

Bishop.     I  mean  that.     What  mission  had  you  ? 

Wesley.     I  had  a  mission  from  God  and  man. 

Bishop.  You  must  have  it  according  to  law,  and  the  order  of  the 
Church  of  England. 

Wesley.     I  am  not  satisfied  in  my  spirit  therein. 

Bishop.  Not  satisfied  in  your  spirit !  You  have  more  neto  coined 
phrases  than  ever  were  heard  of!  You  mean  your  conscience,  do  you  not? 

Wesley.  Spirit  is  no  new  phrase.  We  read  of  being  sanctified  in 
body,  soul,  and  spirit :  but  if  your  lordship  like  it  not  so,  then  I  say  / 
am  not  satisfied  in  conscience,  touching  the  ordination  you  speak  of. 

Bishop.  Conscience  argues  science,  science  supposes  judgment, 
and  judgment  reason.  What  reason  have  you  that  you  will  not  be 
thus  ordained  ? 

Wesley.  I  came  not  this  day  to  dispute  with  your  lordship ;  my  own 
inability  would  forbid  me  to  do  so. 

Bishop.     No,  no  :  but  give  me  your  reason. 

Wesley.     I  am  not  called  to  office,  and  therefore  cannot  be  ordained. 

Bishop.     Why  then  have  you  preached  all  this  while  ? 

Wesley.  I  was  called  to  the  WORK  of  the  ministry,  though  not  to 
the  office.  There  is,  as  we  believe,  vocatio  ad  OPUS,  et  ad  MUNUS. 

Bishop.  Why  may  you  not  have  the  office  of  the  ministry  ?  You 
have  so  many  new  distinctions  !  O,  how  are  you  deluded  ! 

Wesley.  May  it  please  your  lordship,  because  they  are  not  a  people 
that  are  fit  objects  for  me  to  exercise  office-work  among  them. 

Bishop.  You  mean  a  gathered  Church  :  but  we  must  have  no  ga- 
thered Churches  in  England ;  and  you  will  see  it  so.  For  there  must 
be  vnity  without  divisions  among  us ;  and  there  can  be  no  unity  without 
uniformity.  Well,  then,  we  must  send  you  to  your  Church  that  they 
may  dispose  of  you,  if  you  were  ordained  by  them. 

Wesley.  I  have  been  informed  by  my  cousin  Pitfield  and  others 
concerning  your  lordship,  that  you  have  a  disposition  inclined  against 
morosity.  However,  you  may  be  prepossessed  by  some  bitter  enemies 
to  my  person,  yet  there  are  others  who  can  and  will  give  you  another 


28  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

character  of  me.  Mr.  Glisson  hath  done  it ;  and  Sir  Francis  Fulford 
desired  me  to  present  his  service  to  you,  and  being  my  hearer,  is  ready 
to  acquaint  you  concerning  me. 

Bishop.  I  asked  Sir  Francis  Fulford  whether  the  presentation  to 
Whitchurch  was  his.  Whose  is  it?  He  told  me  it  was  not  his. 

Wesley.  There  was  none  presented  to  it  these  sixty  years ;  Mr. 
Walton  lived  there.  At  his  departure  the  people  desired  me  to  preach 
to  them ;  and  when  there  was  a  way  of  settlement  appointed,  I  was  by 
the  trustees  appointed,  and  by  the  triers  approved. 

Bishop.  They  would  approve  any  that  would  come  to  them,  and 
close  with  them.  I  know  they  approved  those  who  could  not  read 
twelve  lines  of  English. 

Wesley.  All  that  they  did  I  know  not :  but  I  was  examined  touching 
gifts  and  graces. 

Bishop.  I  question  not  your  gifts,  Mr.  Wesley.  I  will  do  you  any 
good  I  can :  but  you  will  not  long  be  suffered  to  preach,  unless  you  do 
it  according  to  order. 

Wesley.  I  shall  submit  to  any  trial  you  shall  please  to  make.  I 
shall  present  your  lordship  with  a  confession  of  my  faith;  or  take  what 
other  way  you  please  to  insist  on. 

Bishop.     No.     We  are  not  come  to  that  yet. 

Wesley.  I  shall  desire  several  things  may  be  laid  together  which  I 
look  on  as  justifying  my  preaching.  1.  I  was  devoted  to  the  service 
from  my  infancy.  2.  I  was  educated  thereto,  at  school  and  in  the 
university. 

Bishop.     What  university  were  you  of  1 

Wesley.     Oxon. 

Bishop.     What  house  ? 

Wesley.     JVcto  Inn  Hall. 

Bishop.     What  age  are  you  ? 

Wesley.      Twenty-five. 

Bishop.     No  sure,  you  are  not ! 

Wesley.  3.  As  a  son  of  the  prophets,  after  I  had  taken  my  degrees,  I 
preached  in  the  country,  being  approved  of  by  judicious  able  Christians, 
ministers,  and  others.  4.  It  pleased  God  to  seal  my  labour  with  suc- 
cess, in  the  apparent  conversion  of  several  souls. 

Bishop.     Yea,  that  is,  it  may  be,  to  your  own  way. 

Wesley.  Yea,  to  the  power  of  godliness,  from  ignorance  and  profane- 
ness.  If  it  please  your  lordship  to  lay  down  any  evidences  of  godliness 
agreeing  with  the  Scriptures,  and  if  they  be  not  found  in  those  persons 
intended,  I  am  content  to  be  discharged  from  my  ministry ;  I  will  stand 
or  fall  by  the  issue  thereof. 

Bishop.     You  talk  of  the  power  of  godliness  such  as  you  fancy. 

Wesley.  Yea,  the  reality  of  religion.  Let  us  appeal  to  any  common 
place  book  for  evidences  of  grace,  and  they  are  found  in  and  upon  these 
converts. 

Bishop.     How  many  are  there  of  them  ? 

Wesley.     I  number  not  the  people. 

Bishop.     Where  are  they? 

Wesley.      Wherever  I  have  been  called  to  preach.     At  Radpole, 


JOHN  WESLEY  OF  WH1TCHURCH.  29 

JWelcomb,  Turnwood,  Whitchurch,  and  at  sea.  I  shall  add  another 
ingredient  of  my  mission.  5.  When  the  Church  saw  the  presence  of 
God  going  along  with  me,  they  did  by  fasting  and  prayer,  in  a  day  set 
apart  for  that  end,  seek  an  abundant  blessing  on  my  endeavours. 

Bishop.     A  particular  Church  ? 

Wesley.  Yes,  my  lord.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own  myself  a  member 
of  one. 

Bishop.  Why,  you  mistake  the  apostle's  intent.  They  went  about 
to  convert  Heathens,  and  so  did  what  they  did.  You  have  no  warrant 
for  your  particular  Churches. 

Wesley.  We  have  a  plain,  full,  and  sufficient  rule  for  Gospel  wor- 
ship in  the  New  Testament,  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Jlpostles  and 
in  the  epistles. 

Bishop.     We  have  not. 

Wesley.  The  practice  of  the  apostles  is  a  standing  rule  in  those 
cases  which  were  not  extraordinary. 

Bishop.     Not  their  practice,  but  their  precepts. 

Wesley.  Both  precepts  and  practice.  Our  duty  is  not  delivered  to 
us  in  Scripture  only  by  precepts ;  but  by  precedents,  by  promises,  by 
threatenings  mixed ;  not  common-place  wise.  We  are  to  follow  them, 
as  they  followed  Christ. 

Bishop.  But  the  apostle  said,  This  speak  I,  not  the  Lord ;  that  is, 
by  revelation. 

Wesley.  Some  interpret  tlmt  place,  This  speak  I  now,  by  revelation 
/f  cm  the  Lord ;  not  the  Lord  in  that  text  before  instanced,  when  he 
gave  answer  to  the  case  concerning  divorce.  May  it  please  your  lord- 
ship, we  believe  that  cultus  non  institutus  est  indebitus. 

Bishop.     It  is  false. 

Wesley.  The  second  commandment  speaks  the  same,  Thou  shalt 
not  make  unto  thyself  any  graven  image. 

Bishop.     That  is,  forms  of  your  own  invention. 

Wesley.  Bishop  Andrews,  taking  notice  of  non  fades  tibi,  satisfied 
me  that  we  may  not  worship  God  but  as  commanded. 

Bishop.  You  take  discipline,  church  government,  and  circumstance*, 
for  worship. 

Wesley.     You  account  ceremonies  a  part  of  worship. 

Bishop.  But  what  say  you  ?  Did  you  not  wear  a  sword  in  the  time 
of  the  committee  of  safety,  with  Demy  and  the  rest  of  them? 

Wesley.  My  lord,  I  have  given  you  my  answer  therein :  and  I  far- 
ther say,  that  I  have  conscientiously  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
faithfully  kept  it  hitherto.  I  appeal  to  all  that  are  round  about  me. 

Bishop.     But  nobody  will  trust  you.    You  stood  it  out  to  the  last  gasp. 

Wesley.  I  know  not  what  you  mean  by  the  last  gasp.  When  I  saw 
the  pleasure  of  Providence  to  turn  the  order  of  things,  I  did  submit 
quietly  thereunto. 

Bishop.     That  was  at  last. 

Wesley.     Yet  many  such  men  are  trusted,  and  now  about  the  king. 

Bishop.  They  are  such  as  though  on  the  parliament  side  during 
the  war,  yet  disown  these  latter  proceedings :  but  you  abode  even  till 
s  coming  to  Portsmouth 


30  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Wesley.  His  majesty  has  pardoned  whatever  you  may  be  informed 
of  concerning  me  of  that  nature.  I  am  not  here  on  that  account. 

Bishop.     I  expected  you  not. 

Wesley.  Your  lordship  sent  your  desire  by  two  or  three  messengers. 
Had  I  been  refractory,  I  need  not  have  come  :  but  I  would  give  no 
just  cause  of  offence.  I  think  the  old  Nonconformists  were  none  of 
his  majesty's  enemies. 

Bishop.  They  were  traitors.  They  began  the  war.  Knox  and 
Bmhanan  in  Scotland,  and  those  like  them  in  England. 

Wesley.  I  have  read  the  protestation,  of  owning  the  king's  su- 
premacy. 

Bishop.     They  did  it  in  hypocrisy. 

Wesley.  You  used  to  tax  the  poor  Independents  for  judging  folks' 
hearts.  Who  doth  it  now  ? 

Bishop.  I  did  not ;  for  they  pretended  one  thing  and  acted  another. 
Do  not  I  know  them  better  than  you  ? 

Wesley.  I  know  them  by  their  works ;  as  they  have  therein  deli- 
vered us  their  hearts. 

Bishop.  Well,  then,  you  will  justify  your  preaching,  will  you,  with- 
out ordination  according  to  the  law  ? 

Wesley.  All  these  things  laid  together,  are  satisfactory  to  me  for 
my  procedure  therein. 

Bishop.     They  are  not  enough. 

Wesley.  There  has  been  more  written  in  proof  of  preaching  of  gift- 
ed persons  with  such  approbation,  than  has  been  answered  by  any  one 
yet. 

Bishop.     Have  you  any  thing  more  to  say  to  me,  Mr.  Wesley  ? 

Wesley.     Nothing.     Your  lordship  sent  for  me. 

Bishop.  I  am  glad  I  heard  this  from  youv  own  mouth.  You  will 
stand  to  your  principles,  you  say? 

Wesley.  I  intend  it,. through  the  grace  of  God  ;  and  to  be  faithful  to 
the  king's  majesty,  however  you  deal  with  me. 

Bishop.     I  will  not  meddle  with  you. 

Wesley.     Farewell  to  you,  sir. 

Bishop.     Farewell,  good  Mr.  Wesley. 

Calamy's  Nonconformists'  Memorial,  vol.  ii,  p.  165. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  bishop  forfeited  his  word  by  giving 
Mr.  Wesley  any  disturbance.  How  he  was  treated  by  others  we  shall 
see  shortly.  But  before  I  proceed  further  in  his  history,  I  think  it 
necessary  to  make  some  remarks  on  the  preceding  dialogue  ;  as  there 
are  some  things  in  it  which  require  explanation. 

I.  The  conversation  mentioned  here  must  have  taken  place  after 
the  year  1660.  For  on  Jan.  13  of  that  year,  was  Dr.  Gilbert  Ironside 
consecrated  bishop  of  Bristol ;  the  see  having  been  vacant,  through  the 
calamities  of  the  times,  from  the  death  of  Dr.  Thomas  Howell,  in  the 
year  1646,  to  the  year  above  mentioned,  (vide  DC  Prtzsulibus  Anglic, 
566.) 

There  was  another  Dr.  Gilbert  Ironside,  son  of  the  preceding,  who 
was  bishop  of  Bristol  in  1685.  But  this  could  not  be  the  prelate  in 
question.  The  preceding  held  the  see  from  1660  to  1671,  so  that  the 


JOHN    WESLEY    OF    WHITCHURCH.  31 

conversation  took  place  some  time  in  that  period  ;  and  certainly  before 
the  passing  the  Act  of  Uniformity  in  1662,  as  that  event  is  here  alluded 
to  as  shortly  to  take  place. 

II.  The  committee  of  safety,  mentioned  by  the  bishop,  was  formed 
Oct.  26,  1659,  by  the  great  officers  of  the  army.     It  consisted  of 
twenty-three  persons,  who  were  ordered  "  to  endeavour  some  settle- 
ment of  the  government;"  for  after  the  death  of  Cromwell,  on  Sept.  3, 
of  the  preceding  year,  the  nation  was  greatly  distracted  ;  there  was 
no  efficient  civil  government,  and  the  power  fell  wholly  into  the  hands 
of  the  army. 

This  committee  was  invested  with  the  full  power  of  the  council  of 
state  ;  and  were  to  "  prepare  such  a  form  of  government  as  might  best 
comport  with  a  free  state  and  commonwealth,  without  a  single  person, 
kingship,  or  house  of  lords." — See  Rapin. 

It  was  at  this  time,  1659,  that  Sir  Arthur  Haselrig  was  sent  to 
Portsmouth  by  the  parliament,  the  town  and  garrison  of  which  declared 
for  them,  against  the  orders  of  the  committee  of  safety. 

The  bishop  accuses  Mr.  Wesley  that  he  continued  till  tht  last  gasp ; 
«.  e.  that  he  held  with  the  parliament  against  the  restoration  of  the  king 
till  the  time  that  Haselrig  came  to  Portsmouth ;  soon  after  which  he 
and  all  the  army  joined  with  MONK  ;  and  the  king  was  invited  over, 
proclaimed  in  London,  May  8,  1660,  and  landed  at  Dover  on  the  25th. 

The  declaration  of  Portsmouth  for  the  parliament  was  one  of  the  last 
public  acts  against  the  restoration  of  the  king  ;  and  might  be  fitly  deno- 
minated, as  here  by  the  bishop,  the  last  gasp,  i.  e.  of  the  republican 
government  in  England. 

III.  What  is  implied  in  his  wearing  a  sword  at  that  time  I  cannot 
tell :  whether  it  was  for  personal  safety,  or  as  a  soldier,  or  as  an  ensign 
of  some  office.     During  the  existence  of  the  committee  of  safety  the 
whole  nation  was  under  military  law ;  for  this  committee  was  created, 
and  the  members  appointed,  by  the  great  officers  of  the  army. 

The  parliament  and  the  army  had  now  separate  interests,  and  sepa- 
rate views.  Every  person  saw  that  there  must  soon  be  a  stupendous 
issue  :  but  of  what  kind  none  could  tell. 

Mr.  Wesley,  it  appears,  was  undecided :  but  he  was  a  man  of  a 
reflecting  mind,  careful  to  mark  the  workings  of  Providence ;  and 
when  he  saiu  that  it  was  the  pleasure  of  Providence  to  turn  the  order 
of  things,  t.  e.  to  restore  the  monarchy  in  the  family  of  the  Stuarts, 
he  quietly  submitted,  read  the  protestation  owning  the  king's  supremacy, 
and  cheerfully  took  the  oath  of  allegiance.  His  indecision  was  no  blot 
on  his  character ;  and  his  subsequent  conduct  much  to  his  credit. 

IV.  Had  we  more  particulars  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Bartholomew 
Wesley,  we  should,  no  doubt,  find  something  peculiarly  interesting 
relative  to  his  son  John,  of  whom  we  are  speaking. 

That  he  had  a  truly  religious  education  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and 
from  his  own  account  to  the  bishop  of  Bristol  it  appears  that  he  was 
devoted  to  the  sacred  service  from  his  infancy  ;  and  educated  in  order 
thereto,  both  at  school  and  at  the  university.  And  it  was  evident  from 
the  manner  in  which  God  wrought  upon  his  mind,  and  the  gifts  and 
graces  with  which  he  hud  endued  him,  that  he  had  accepted  the  gift 


32  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

which  his  parents  had  offered,  and  given  him  those  qualifications  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry  which  neither  schools  nor  universities  can 
supply,  and  which  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  holiest  bishop 
cannot  confer.  His  conversation  with  the  bishop  shows  that  he  pos- 
sessed manly  sense,  unaffected  piety,  and  religious  knowledge  far 
beyond  his  years. 

V.  From  this  conversation  we  learn  two  important  facts  : — 1 .  That 
he  was  a  lay-preacher.     2.  That  he  was  an  itinerant  evangelist. 

1.  That  he  was  not  ordained,  either  by  bishop  or  presbyters,  by  the 
imposition  of  hands,  is  fully  evident.     He  had  authority  from  GOD  ; 
this  he  conscientiously  believed  was  sufficient,  and  he  does  not  appear 
to  have  wished  to  have  the  authority  of  man  superadded.     However, 
he  submitted  all  his  own  views  and  feelings  to  the  examination  and 
judgment  of  such  persons  as  from  their  knowledge,  piety,  and  expe- 
rience, were  capable  of  discerning  the  grace  of  God  that  was  in  him, 
and  whether  his  talents  were  such  as  the  people  of  God  might  profit  by. 

2.  He  went  to  proclaim  Christ  crucified  icherever  he  had  an  invita- 
tion, and  probably  where  he  had  none.     It  appears  also  that  he  had 
religious  societies  at  several  places  ;  himself  mentions  Radpole,  •Mel- 
comb,  Turnwood,  fVhitchurch,  and  at  sea.     What  he  means  by  his 
converts  at  sea  I  cannot  learn ;  whether  he  served  aboard  the  fleet,  or 
whether  he  only  occasionally  visited  the  ships  at  Bridport,  Weymouth, 
Lyme,  Radpole,  &c,  I  know  not.     From  his  own  account  we  find  that 
he  exercised  his  ministry  both  by  sea  and  land,  in  what  would  be  called 
an  irregular  way,  without  any  kind  of  human  ordination,  as  "  a  son  of 
the  prophets,"  to  use  his  own  words ;  nearly  in  the  same  way,  from 
similar  motives,  and  in  reference  to  the  same  end,  as  those  whom  his 
grandson  long   afterward   associated   with  himself  in  the  Christian 
ministry.     Indeed  we  find  in  this  man's  conduct  a  kind  of  epitome  of 
Methodism;   his  mode  of  preaching,  matter,  manner,  and  success, 
being  most  strikingly  similar. 

VI.  Mr.  Wesley  tells  the  bishop  that  he  was  appointed  to  preach  at 
Whitchurch  by  the  trustees,  and  approved  by  the  triers.* 

Of  these  persons  we  have  a  sufficient  account  in  a  little  scarce 
duodecimo  work,  printed  in  1658,  intituled,  The  examination  ofTilenus 
before  the  Triers,  in  order  to  his  intended  settlement  in  the  office  of  a 
public  Preacher  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Utopia.  The  chairman  opens 
the  meeting  thus : — "  The  great  prudence  and  piety  of  the  governors 
of  this  commonwealth,  considering  how  apt  the  people  are  to  be 
influenced  by  the  principles  and  example  of  their  constant  teachers, 
have  been  pleased,  out  of  an  ardent  zeal  to  God's  glory,  and  a  tender 
.care  of  men's  precious  souls,  to  think  upon  a  course  how  their  domi- 
nions may  be  made  happy  in  the  settlement  of  an  able  and  godly 
ministry  among  them ;  for  which  purpose  they  have  appointed  com- 
missioners to  examine  the  gifts  of  all  such  as  shall  be  employed  in  the 
office  of  public  preaching." 

*  The  Ordinance  for  the  trying  of  Ministers,  Elders,  or  Presbyters,  referred  to  in 
these  pages,  was  passed  August  29,  1648;  and  may  be  found  in  SCOBELL'S  »2cfa, 
cap.  xviii,  p.  165.  In  that  place  the  names  of  all  the  trifrs,  and  the  points  on  which 
the  candidates  were  examined,  are  specified  in  detail. 


JOHN    WESLEY    OF    WHITCHURCH.  33 

The  committee  of /Hers  appears  to  have  been  appointed  about  1652. 
It  certainly  existed  in  that  year,  if  not  before. 

It  is  to  such  commissioners  Mr.  Wesley  refers :  and  that  they 
were  generally  Calcinists  may  be  gathered  from  the  fictitious  names 
given  to  them  in  the  above  tract,  viz. — Dr.  ABSOLUTE,  chairman ; 
Mr.  Fatalitie ;  Mr.  Pratterition ;  Mr.  Fri-babe ;  Mr.  Dam-man ; 
Mr.  Narrow-grace,  alias  Stint-grace  ;  Mr.  Efficax ;  Mr.  Indefectible ; 
Dr.  Confidence ;  Mr.  Dubious ;  Mr.  Meanwell ;  Mr.  Simulans ;  Mr. 
Take-o-trust ;  Mr.  Know-little  ;  and  Mr.  Impertinent.  This  trial  was 
inserted  by  the  late  Mr.  Wesley  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Arminian 
Magazine. 

At  such  times  as  these  it  was  certainly  necessary  to  examine  those 
who  were  candidates  for  the  sacred  ministry  ;  as  from  the  best  accounts 
we  learn  there  were  great  numbers  then  in  the  Church  who  had  neither 
gifts  nor  grace  for  the  work ;  and  who  were  beside  scandalous  in  their 
lives.  It  is  a  trite  saying,  but  it  is  true,  that  "  we  must  not  argue 
against  the  use  of  a  thing  from  its  abuse." 

VII.  Mr.  Wesley  in  defending  his  call  to  the  ministry,  makes  a 
distinction  between  the  vocatio  ad  opus,  "  a  call  to  the  work,"  and 
vocatio  ad  munus,  "  a  call  to  the  office,"  of  the  ministry  ;  and  tells  the 
bishop  that  "  he  did  not  do  office  work  among  the  people,  because  they 
were  not  proper  objects  for  office  work." 

By  this  distinction,  which  as  I  apprehend  it  is  of  some  importance, 
he  must  mean,  and  so  the  bishop  understood  him,  that  the  people  who 
sat  under  his  ministry  were  gathered  from  different  parts,  did  not  belong 
to  any  parish  church,  and  were  not  as  yet  a  consolidated  society  ;  that 
he  had  not  instituted  any  code  of  discipline  for  their  regulation ;  and 
probably  did  not  administer  the  sacraments  among  them,  especially 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  He  was  called  to  preach  to  them, 
but  not  to  preside  over  them ;  they  were  not  as  yet  Jit  for  such  office 
work. 

It  may  not  be  thought  unworthy  of  remark,  that  this  was  the  plan 
followed  by  his  grandson  in  respect  to  the  lay  preachers  so  called, 
whom  he  associated  with  himself  in  that  great  work  to  which  God  had 
especially  appointed  him.  He  believed  they  all  had  from  God  himself 
the  vocatio  ad  opus, — an  extraordinary  call  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  : 
but  he  did  not  believe  that  they  all  had  the  vocatio  ad  munus, — the  call 
to  the  office ;  and  therefore  he  did  not  trust  them  to  govern  the  societies, 
nor  permit  them  to  administer  the  sacraments.  He  kept  the  ecclesi- 
astical government  of  all  the  societies  in  his  own  hands ;  appointed 
one  preacher  in  each  circuit  whom  he  called  the  assistant,  i.  e.  one  who 
assisted  him  in  governing  the  'societies ;  but  he  seldom  suffered  any  of 
them  to  administer  the  sacraments  unless  they  bad  been  ordained  by 
himself.  I  need  scarcely  state  here  that  all  the  other  preachers  in  the 
different  circuits  were  called  helpers,  that  is,  they  helped  the  assiitant 
in  his  work  in  the  circuit,  as  he  assisted  Mr.  Wesley  in  his  general 
government  of  the  whole  connection. 

VIII.  Taking  the  vocatio  ad  munus  in  the  above  sense,  it  may  be 
safely  said  that  there  are  multitudes  who  appear  to  have  the  vocatio  ad 
opus,  the  gift  of  preaching,  with  every  qualification  necessary  to  mako 

5 


34  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

that  gift  powerfully  and  extensively  useful,  who  at  the  same  time  have 
no  gifts  for  Church  government,  and  consequently  no  vocatio  ad  munus, 
no  call  to  that  part  of  the  work.  Nor  are  any  persons,  to  use  the 
words  of  old  Mr.  Wesley,  fit  objects  of  office  work  till  they  are  truly 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  sin  and  danger ;  till  they  are  gathered 
out  of  the  world,  and  solemnly  determined  to  seek  the  salvation  of  their 
souls ;  abstaining  from  every  appearance  of  evil,  and  using  all  the 
means  of  grace.  This  is  the  sum  of  the  conditions  on  which,  from 
the  beginning  until  now,  members  have  been  admitted  into  the 
Methodist  societies. 

No  people  have  ever  made  a  wiser,  more  marked,  and  more  salu- 
tary distinction  between  the  vocatio  ad  opus  and  the  vocatio  ad  munus 
than  the  Methodists  have  done.  And  to  them  GOD,  in  his  great  mercy, 
has  NOW  given  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some  evangel- 
ists, and  some  pastors  and  teachers  ;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints, 
for  the  icork  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ;  till 
we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of 
God  unto  a  perfect  man  ;  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ,  Eph.  iv,  11-13. 

It  cannot  escape  the  notice  and  reflection  of  the  reader  that  JVfe- 
ihodism,  in  its  grand  principles  of  economy,  and  the  means  by  which 
they  have  been  brought  into  action,  has  had  its  specific,  healthy,  though 
slowly  vegetating,  seeds  in  the  original  members  of  the  Wesley  family. 
We  have  an  additional  proof  of  this, — 

IX.  In  what  Mr.  Wesley  tells  the  bishop  he  considered  a  sufficient 
evidence  of  his  call  to  the  ministry.  1.  Grace.  2.  Gifts.  3.  Fruit. 
To  show  that  he  had  the  two  former,  he  offers  to  the  bishop  to  submit 
to  any  kind  of  trial  or  examination  ;  and  that  he  had  fruit  of  his  labours 
in  every  place  where  he  had  preached, — in  the  conversion  of  souls  from 
gross  ignorance  and  profaneness  to  the  power  of  godliness, — yea,  the 
reality  of  religion, — he  strongly  asserts ;  and  offers  to  prove  to  the 
bishop  that  those  his  converts  had  in  and  upon  them,  i.  e.  in  their  reli- 
gious experience  and  outward  conduct,  all  the  evidences  of  grace  which 
are  enumerated  in  common-place  books,  or  can  be  laid  down  from  the 
Scriptures.  And  so  confident  was  he  of  all  these  things,  and  conse- 
quently of  his  genuine  call  to  the  ministry,  that  he  was  willing  to  stand 
or  fall  by  the  proofs,  and  to  be  discharged  from  the  ministry  if  these 
things  were  not  so  ! 

How  exactly  do  all  these  things  tally  in  reference  to  the  Methodist 
Discipline  on  this  great  point.  No  man  is  admitted  to  be  a  preacher 
among  them  unless  he  be  thus  qualified  and  approved  of  God. 
Grace,  gifts,  and  fruit,  are  the  grand  requisites.  Where  these 
unequivocally  meet  in  any  person  who  offers  himself  to  take  a  part 
in  the  great  work  to  which  God  has  called  them,  they  without  hesi- 
tation take  for  granted  that  the  man  is  called  of  God.  And  it  is 
because  the  ranks  of  the  Methodist  preachers  continue  to  be  filled  up 
by  such  persons  and  such  only,  that  the  great  work  is  still  carried  on, 
and  that  their  religious  societies,  constituted  of  such  converts,  are  a 
blessing  to  the  nations,  and  a  praise  in  the  earth. 

Though  Mr.  Wesley   were  thus   instrumental  in   converting   the 


JOHN   WESLEY   OF    WHITCHURCH.  35 

ignorant  and  profligate,  and  consequently  in  bettering  the  state  of 
society,  yet  he  was  not  permitted  to  proceed  unmolested  in  his  work. 
Luther  somewhere  observes, — Evangelium  predicare  eat  furorem 
mundi  in  se  derivare,  "  He  who  faithfully  preaches  the  Gospel  is  sure 
to  bring  down  the  rage  of  the  world  upon  himself."  The  laws  of  Christ 
condemn  a  vicious  world  and  gall  it  to  revenge.  As  religion  gives  no 
quarter  to  vice,  so  the  vicious  will  give  no  quarter  to  religion. 

Mr.  Wesley  was  not  permitted  to  preach  quietly  at  Whitchurch, 
even  till  ejected  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1662  he  was  seized  upon  the  Lord's  day,  as  he  was  coming  out 
of  the  church  ;  and  carried  to  Blandford,  where  he  was  committed 
to  prison.  After  he  had  been  sometime  confined,  Sir  Gerrard 
Napper,  who  had  been  the  most  furious  of  all  his  enemies  and  the 
most  forward  in  committing  him,  was  so  softened  by  a  sad  disaster 
he  met  with  (the  breaking  of  his  collar-bone)  that  he  applied  to  some 
persons  to  bail  Mr.  Wesley,  and  told  them  that  if  they  would  not  he 
would  do  it  himself.  He  was  therefore  set  at  liberty,  but  bound  over 
to  appear  at  the  assizes,  where  he  came  off  much  better  than  he 
expected. 

He  has  recorded  in  his  diary  the  particular  mercy  of  God  to  him 
in  raising  up  several  friends  to  own  him;  inclining  a  solicitor  to  plead 
for  him ;  and  restraining  the  wrath  of  man,  so  that  even  the  judge, 
though  a  very  choleric  man,  spoke  not  one  angry  word.  The  sum  of 
the  proceedings,  as  it  stands  in  his  diary,  is  as  follows : — 

Clerk.     Call  Mr.  Wesley  of  Whitchurch, 

Wesley.     Here. 

Clerk.  You  were  indicted  for  not  reading  the  Common  Prayer. 
Will  you  traverse  it  ? 

A  Solicitor.  May  it  please  your  lordship,  we  desire  this  business 
may  be  deferred  till  next  assizes. 

Judge.     Why  till  then  ? 

Solicitor.     Our  witnesses  are  not  ready  at  present. 

Judge.     Why  not  ready  now  ?  W'hy  have  you  not  prepared  for  a  trial  ? 

Solicitor.  We  thought  our  prosecutors  would  not  appear. 

Judge.  Why  so,  young  man  1  Why  should  you  think  so  ?  Why 
did  you  not  provide  them  ? 

Wesley.  May  it  please  your  lordship,  I  understand  not  the 
question. 

Judge.      Why  will  you  not  read  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer? 

Wesley.     The  book  was  never  tendered  to  me. 

Judge.     Must  the  book  be  tendered  to  you  ? 

Wesley.     So  I  conceive  by  the  act. 

Judge.     Are  you  ordained? 

Wesley.     I  am  ordained  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

Judge.     From  whom? 

Wesley.     I  have  given  an  account  thereof  already  to  the  bishop. 

Judge.     WThat  bishop  ? 

Wesley.     The  bishop  of  Bristol. 

Judge.     I  say  by  whom  were  you  ordained  ?    How  long  is  it  since  ? 

Wetley.     Four  or  five  years  since. 


36  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Judge.     By  whom  then  ? 

Wesley.     By  those  who  were"  then  empowered. 

Judge.     I  thought  so.  Have  you  a  presentation  to  your  place  ? 
Wesley.     I  have. 

Judge.     From  whom? 

Wesley.     May  it  please  your  lordship,  it'is  a  legal  presentation. 

Judge.     By  whom  was  it? 

Wesley.     By  the  trustees. 

Judge.     Have  you  brought  it  ? 

Wesley.     I  have  not. 

Judge.     Why  not  ? 

Wesley.  Because  I  did  not  think  I  should  be  asked  any  such 
questions  here. 

Judge.  I  would  wish  you  to  read  the  Common  Prayer  at  your 
peril.  You  will  not  say,  "  From  all  sedition  and  privy  conspiracy  ; 
from  all  false  doctrine,  heresy,  and  schism,  good  Lord,  deliver  us !" 

Clerk.  Call  Mr.  JVLeech  :  [he  was  called  and  appeared]  Does  Mr. 
Wesley  read  the  Common  Prayer  yet? 

JUeech.     May  it  please  your  lordship,  he  never  did,  nor  he  never  will. 

Judge.    Friend,  how  do  you  know  that  ?     He  may  bethink  himself. 

J\feech.     He  never  did  ;  he  never  will. 

Solicitor.  We  will,  when  we  see  the  new  book,  either  read  it,  or 
leave  our  place  at  Bartholomew  tide. 

Judge.  Are  you  not  bound  to  read  the  old  book  till  then  ?  Let  us 
see  the  act. 

While  the  judge  was  reading  to  himself  another  cause  was  called; 
and  Mr.  Wesley  was  bound  over  to  the  next  assizes.  He  came  joy- 
fully home;  and  preached  constantly  every  Lord's  day  till  August 
17th,  when  he  delivered  his  farewell  sermon  to  a  weeping  audience, 
from  Acts  xx,  32  :  Jind  noiv,  brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God  and  the 
word  of  his  grace. 

On  the  26th  of  October  the  place  was,  by  an  apparitor,  declared 
vacant ;  and  orders  were  given  to  sequester  the  profits  ;  but  his  people 
had  already  given  him  what  was  his  due. 

On  the  22nd  of  February  following  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Melcomb  :  but  the  corporation  made  an  order  against  his  settlement 
there,  imposing  a  fine  of  201.  upon  his  landlady,  and  Jive  shillings  per 
week  on  himself,  to  be  levied  by  distress !  He  waited  upon  the  mayor 
and  some  others,  pleading  that  he  had  lived  in  the  town  formerly, 
and  had  given  notice  of  his  design  of  coming  thither  again.  He  also 
offered  to  give  security,  which  was  all  that  their  order  required.  But 
all  was  in  vain;  for  on  the  llth  of  the  following  month  (March)  an- 
other order  was  drawn  up  for  putting  the  former  in  execution. 

These  violent  proceedings  forced  him  out  of  the  town ;  and  he 
went  to  Ilminster,  Bridgewater,  and  Taunton ;  in  all  which  places  he 
met  with  great  kindness  and  friendship  from  the  three  denominations  of 
Dissenters,  and  was  almost  every  day  employed  in  preaching  in  those 
several  places ;  where  he  also  got  some  good  acquaintance  and 
friends,  who  were  afterward  very  kind  to  him  and  his  numerous  family. 

At  length  a  gentleman,  who  had  a  very  good  house  at  Preston,  two 


JOHN  WESLEY  OF  WHITCHURCH.  37 

or  three  miles  from  Melcomb,  permitted  him  to  live  in  it  without  paying 
any  rent.  Thither  he  removed  his  family  in  the  beginning  of  May, 
1663;  and  there  he  continued  while  he  lived,  excepting  a  temporary 
absence  shortly  to  be  noticed.  He  records  his  coming  to  Preston,  and 
his  comfortable  accommodation  there,  with  great  admiration  and 
thankfulness  to  God. 

We  must  now  follow  him  in  his  further  projects  and  designs. 

When  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  calls  a  man  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  he  in  effect  says,  Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature.  He  never  '-confines  his  own  gift  and  call  absolutely 
to  any  particular  place  ;  but  leaves  them  under  the  direction  and  man- 
agement of  his  own  providence.  The  call  of  God  to  preach  is  a  mis- 
rionary  call ;  and  they  who  have  it  know  that  they  are  not  their  own,  and 
must  do  the  Master's  work  in  the  Master's  own  way,  place,  and  time. 
Hence  all  the  ministers  of  his  Gospel  have  a  missionary  spirit ;  let 
Providence  direct,  as  it  chooses,  their  way. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  this  excellent  man,  like  his  grandson 
long  after  him,  felt  a  strong  desire  to  visit  the  continent  of  America. 
Surinam,  a  settlement  of  South  America,  in  Guianna,  was  the  first 
object  in  the  contemplation  of  his  missionary  zeal. 

This  settlement  was  visited  in  1 579  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  but  not 
colonized.  In  1634  David  Piterse  de  Vries,  a  Dutchman,  found  there 
a  Captain  Marshal,  with  about  sixty  English.  In  1650  Francis  Lord 
Willoughby,  of  Parham,  by  permission  of  Charles  II.  sent  thither  some 
vessels  to  take  possession  of  the  settlement  in  the  name  of  his  royal 
master;  and  in  1662  this  settlement  was  granted  by  Charles  to  Lord 
Willoughby  and  Lawrence  Hyde,  second  son  of  the  earl  of  Clarendon, 
to  them  and  their  descendants  for  ever. 

Mr.  Wesley  no  doubt  thought  that  the  desolate  state  of  this  colony, 
in  respect  to  spiritual  things,  might  afford  a  fair  and  undisturbed  field 
of  usefulness.  This  purpose,  however,  was  abandoned ;  as  was  also 
another  of  going  to  Mary  land.  The  advice  of  friends  prevailed  ;  and 
probably  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  removing  a  numerous  family  so 
far  were  the  chief  impediments.  Indeed,  such  a  removal  in  his 
circumstances,  must  have  been  all  but  impossible.  He  therefore 
made  up  his  mind  to  abide  in  the  land  of  his  nativity ;  to  be  at  the 
disposal  of  Divine  Providence,  relying  on  the  promise,  Verily,  thou 
shall  be  fed. 

Being  often  out  of  employ,  and  not  willing  to  be  without  public 
worship,  he  would  gladly  have  attended  the  Church  service :  but  there 
were  several  things  in  the  Liturgy  to  which  he  could  not  give  a 
conscientious  assent.  However,  by  reading  Mr.  Philip  A*i/e'»  "  Ar- 
guments for  the  Lawfulness  of  Hearing  Ministers  of  the  Church  of 
England,"  his  scruples  were  so  far  removed  that  he  found  he  could  do 
it  with  a  safe  conscience  ;  and  doubtless  to  his  edification. 

At  this  same  time  Mr.  Wesley  was  not  a  little  troubled  about  his 
own  preaching  ;  whether  it  should  be  carried  on  openly,  or  in  private. 
Some  of  the  neighbouring  ministers,  particularly  Messrs.  Bamfield, 
/nee,  Halltl  of  Shaston,  and  John  Sacheverel,  were  for  preaching 
publicly,  with  open  doors.  But  Mr.  Wesley  thought  it  was  his  duty  to 


38  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

beware  of  men ;  and  that  he  was  bound  in  prudence  to  keep  himself  at 
liberty  as  long  as  he  could.  Accordingly,  by  preaching  only  in  private, 
he  was  kept  longer  out  of  the  hands  of  his  enemies  than  the  ministers 
above  mentioned,  all  of  whom  were  indicted  at  the  next  assizes  "  for  a 
riotous  and  unlawful  assembly  held  at  Shaston ;  and  were  found  guilty 
by  a  jury  of  gentlemen,  fined  forty  marks  each,  and  were  bound  to  find 
security  for  their  good  behaviour."  Or,  in  other  words,  that  they  would 
not  speak  any  more  in  the  blessed  name  of  Jesus ;  but  be  unfaithful 
to  their  heavenly  calling,  and  permit  the  devil  unmolested  to  destroy 
the  souls  of  the  people. 

The  stopping  of  the  mouths  of  these  faithful  men  was  a  general 
curse  to  the  nation.  A  torrent  of  iniquity,  deep,  rapid,  and  strong, 
deluged  the  whole  land,  and  swept  away  godliness  and  vital  religion 
from  the  kingdom.  The  king  had  no  religion,  either  in  power  or  in 
form.  Though  a  Papist  in  his  heart,  he  was  the  most  worthless  that 
ever  sat  on  the  British  throne,  and  profligate  beyond  all  measure ; 
without  a  single  good  quality  to  redeem  his  numerous  bad  ones  :  and 
the  Church  and  the  State  joined  hand  in  hand  in  persecution  and 
intolerance.  Since  those  barbarous  and  iniquitous  times  what  hath 
God  wrought  ? 

There  was  now  no  open  vision,  and  the  pure  word  of  the  Lord  was 
scarce  in  those  days.  Most  of  the  faithful  of  the  land  were  either 
silenced  as  to  public  preaching,  or  shut  up  in  prison ;  and  the  rest  were 
hidden  in  corners.  Mr.  Wesley  in  a  private  manner  preached  frequently 
to  a  few  good  people  at  Preston,  and  occasionally  at  Weymouth  and 
other  places  contiguous.  After  some  time  he  had  a  call  from  a  number 
of  serious  Christians  at  Poole  to  become  their  pastor.  He  consented ; 
and  continued  with  them  while  he  lived,  administering  to  them  all  the 
ordinances  of  God  as  opportunity  offered. 

In  the  parliament  held  at  Oxford,  (17  Car.  ii,  1665)  a  severe  act 
was  passed  against  the  dissenting  teachers,  prohibiting  them  from 
dwelling  or  coming  (except  in  travelling  on  the  road)  within  five  miles 
of  any  corporation  or  borough  town,  or  any  other  place  where  they 
had  been  ministers,  or  preached  after  the  act  of  oblivion,  on  the  penalty 
of  forty  pounds  for  each  offence  ;  unless  they  first  took  the  following 
oath  : — 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  declare  that  it  is  not  lawful  on  any 

pretence  whatsoever  to  take  up  arms  against  the  king ;  and  that 

I  do  abhor  the  traitorous  position  of  taking  arms  by  his  authority, 

against  his  person,  or  against  those  that  are  commissioned  by 

him,  in  pursuance  of  such  commission.     And  I  do  swear  that  I 

will  not,  at  any  time  to  come,  endeavour  the  alteration  of  the 

government,  either  in  Church  or  State.     So  help  me  God." 

Archbishop  Sheldon,  and  Ward,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  were  the  chief 

promoters  of  this  act.     When  it  came  out,  those  ministers  who  had 

any  property  of  their  own,  retired  to  obscure  villages  or  to  market  towns, 

that  were  not  corporations.     And  some,  who  had  nothing,  were  obliged 

to  leave  their  wives  and  children  and  hide  themselves  abroad,  sometimes 

coming  secretly  to  them  after  night. 

Both  Preston  and  Poole  being  corporation  towns,  in  the  first  of 


JOHN    WESLEY   OF   WHITCHURCH.  39 

which  Mr.  Wesley  resided,  in  the  second  exercised  his  ministry ;  he 
was  obliged  to  leave  his  wife,  his  family,  and  his  flock,  and  secrete 
himself  in  various  places.  He  could  not  conscientiously  take  the  above 
oath,  because  of  the  last  clause,  /  do  swear  that  I  will  not  at  any  time 
to  come  endeavour  the  alteration  of  the  government  either  in  Church 
or  State. 

All  the  Dissenters  had  strenuously  endeavoured  to  alter  the  govern- 
ment in  the  Church,  or  rather  to  reform  it ;  as  they  considered  several 
parts  as  savouring  of  superstition,  and  tending  to  Popery  ;  and  on  this 
the  dissent  of  many  of  them  was  founded.  Every  thing  they  might 
say  against  those  points  of  Popery  which  seemed  to  be  countenanced 
in  any  part  of  the  Liturgy  might  be  considered  by  their  adversaries  as 
an  endeavouring  to  alter  the  government  of  the  Church,  and  consequently 
expose  them  to  prosecution,  persecution,  and  the  alleged  infamy  of 
perjury. 

Under  the  date  of  1666,  Mr.  Wesley  entered  in  his  Diary  some  of 
the  reasons  why  he  could  not  safely  take  this  oath ;  particularly  that 
to  do  it  in  his  own  private  sense,  would  be  juggling  with  God,  with 
the  king,  and  with  conscience ;  especially  as  some  magistrates  had 
declared  they  had  no  right  to  admit  of  such  a  private  sense.  He  was 
therefore  obliged  to  leave  home  for  a  considerable  time.  He  at  length 
ventured  to  return  to  his  family  and  flock  :  but  notwithstanding  all  the 
prudent  precaution  with  which  he  conducted  his  meetings,  he  was  often 
disturbed  ;  several  times  apprehended ;  and  four  times  imprisoned  ; 
once  at  Poole  for  six  months,  and  once  at  Dorchester  for  three  montlis. 
The  other  confinements  were  shorter :  but  how  long  their  duration 
was  we  are  not  told. 

Dr.  Calamy  adds  "  that  he  was  in  many  straits  and  difficulties  ;  but 
was  wonderfully  supported  and  comforted  ;  and  was  many  times  very 
seasonably  and  surprisingly  relieved  and  delivered.  Nevertheless,  the 
removal  of  many  eminent  Christians  into  another  world,  who  had  been 
his  intimate  acquaintance  and  kind  friends,  the  great  decay  of  serious 
religion  among  many  professors,  and  the  increasing  rage  of  the  enemies 
of  real  godliness,  manifestly  seized  on  and  sunk  his  spirits.  At  length 
'  having  filled  up  his  part  of  what  is  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ 
in  his  flesh,  for  his  body's  sake,  which  is  the  Church,  and  finished  the 
work  given  him  to  do,'  he  was  taken  out  of  this  vale  of  tears  to  that 
world  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at 
rest;  when  he  had  not  been  much  longer  an  inhabitant  here  below 
than  his  blessed  Master  was,  whom  he  served  with  his  whole  heart, 
according  to  the  best  light  he  had."  JV.  M.  vol.  ii,  p.  164,  &c. 

It  appears  that  application  was  made  to  have  him  buried  in  the 
church  at  Preston ;  but  the  vicar  would  not  suffer  it. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Dr.  Calamy,  who  had  the  Journal  of  this 
excellent  man,  gives  so  few  dates,  and  particularly  in  those  places 
where  they  were  especially  needful.  He  neither  mentions  the  year 
of  his  birth,  nor  that  of  his  dr.ulh.  He  tells  us  only,  "  that  he  began 
preaching  when  he  was  twenty-two,  and  in  May  1658,  was  sent  to 
preach  at  Whitchurch."  Now,  if  this  means  May  of  the  year  1658, 
in  which  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  then  he  must  have  been  born 


40  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

about  A.  D.  1636.  When  he  had  the  conversation  with  the  bishop  of 
Bristol,  related  above,  he  states  that  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
From  internal  evidence,  I  think  the  Act  of  Uniformity  had  not  passed 
previously  to  that  conversation,  which  must  have  taken  place  in  1661, 
as  Dr.  Gilbert  Ironside,  the  bishop,  came  to  that  see  in  1660  ;  and  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  passed  in  1662.  These  dates  thus  collated  will 
make  him  precisely  twenty-Jive,  the  age  which  himself  mentions,  when 
he  had  the  above  conversation  with  the  bishop. 

The  Oxford  Act,  called  also  the  Corporation  Jlct,  and  Five  Mile 
Act,  was  passed  in  1665.  In  1666,  he  was  obliged  to  retire  from  his 
family  and  flock,  and  hide  himself  for  some  time.  The  last  date  we 
have  in  Dr.  Calamy's  account  is  March  1666,  when  by  the  above 
collation  of  dates  he  must  have  been  thirty  years  of  age.  Of  the  year 
of  his  death  we  are  left  to  conjecture  from  the  words,  "  He  was  taken 
out  of  the  vale  of  tears  when  he  had  not  been  much  longer  an  inhabitant 
here  below  than  his  blessed  Master  was." 

Now  as  it  is  generally  allowed  that  our  Lord  was  crucified  in  the 
thirty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  suppose  we  add  another  year  to  Mr. 
Wesley's  life,  for  the  "  not  much  longer,"  used  by  Dr.  Calamy  above, 
this  will  bring  down  his  death  to  about  the  year  1670,  when  he  must 
have  been  in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  And  as  his  father 
Bartholomew  survived  him  some  short  lime,  he  must  have  lived  after 
the  year  1670  to  have  outlived  his  son. 

Dr.  W'hitehead,  who  gives  an  abstract  of  Dr.  Calamy's  account  of 
this  good  man,  concludes  it  with  the  following  reflections : — "  1.  Mr. 
Wesley  appears  to  have  made  himself  master  of  the  controverted 
points  in  which  he  differed  from  the  Established  Church ;  and  to  have 
made  up  his  opinions  from  a  conviction  of  their  truth.  2.  He  shows 
an  ingenuous  mind,  free  from  low  cunning,  in  the  open  avowal  of  his 
sentiments  to  the  bishop.  3.  He  appears  to  have  been  remarkably 
conscientious  in  all  his  conduct,  and  a  zealous  promoter  of  genuine- 
piety  both  in  himself  and  others.  4.  He  discovered  great  firmness  of 
mind,  and  an  unshaken  attachment  to  his  principles  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  unchristian  persecution,  and  a  train  of  accumulated  evils  which 
he  suffered  on  that  account. 

"  These  are  prominent  features  in  his  character  which  we  cannot 
but  admire,  however  we  may  differ  from  him  in  opinion  :  they  show  a 
mind  elevated  far  above  the  common  level,  even  of  those  who  have 
had  the  advantages  of  an  academical  education." 

Mrs.  Wesley  long  survived  her  husband ;  but  how  long  we  cannot 
exactly  tell.  In  a  letter  of  Mr.  Samuel  WTesley  jun.  in  1710  he  speaks 
of  having  "  visited  his  grandmother  Wesley,  then  a  widow  of  almost 
forty-eight  years."  But  as  Mr.  John  Wesley,  her  husband,  must  have 
died  about  1670,  she  could  not  have  been  a  widow  more  than  forty 
years  in  1710 ;  and,  therefore,  I  suppose  forty-eight  is  a  mistake  in 
the  copy  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  letter  for  forty,  an  error  which  might 
very  easily  take  place  from  the  similarity  of  the  latter  figures. 

It  does  not  appear  that  this  venerable  widow  had  any  help  from  her 
own  family ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  she  was  entirely  d^end- 
cnt  on  and  supported  by  her  sons  Matthew  and  Samuel.  Howwr  the 


MATTHEW  WESLEY.  41 

former  may  have  contributed  to  her  support  it  is  not  easy  to  say  :  but 
that  she  was  deeply  indebted  to  the  latter  I  learn  from  one  of  his  letters 
to  Archbishop  Sharpe,  dated  Ep worth,  December  30th,  1700. 

"  The  next  year  my  barn  fell,  which  cost  me  forty  pounds  in  re- 
building, (thanks  to  your  grace  for  a  part  of  it ;)  and  having  an  aged 
mother,  (who  must  have  gone  to  prison  if  I  had  not  assisted  her,)  she 
cost  me  upward  of  forty  pounds  more.  Ten  pounds  a  year  I  allow 
my  mother  to  keep  her  from  starving." 

How  doleful  was  the  lot  of  this  poor  woman  !  persecuted  with  her 
husband  during  the  whole  of  her  married  life,  and  abandoned  to 
poverty  during  a  long  and  dreary  widowhood. 


MATTHEW  WESLEY,  SURGEON. 

WE  have  already  seen  that  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  ejected  from  the 
vicarage  of  Whitchurch,  in  Dorsetshire,  of  whom  I  have  lately  spoken, 
is  said  to  4iave  had  a  numerous  family.  But  the  names  of  Matthew 
and  Samuel  only  are  come  down  to  us.  Whether  the  others  died 
young,  or  survived  their  father,  we  are  not  informed  :  but  it  is  most 
likely  that  the  rest  died  in  infancy ;  as  not  even  the  name  of  any  of  them 
is  ever  mentioned. 

Matthew,  after  the  example  of  his  grandfather  Bartholomew,  studied 
physic,  and  settled  in  London ;  after  having  travelled  over  the  greatest 
part  of  Europe  for  his  improvement.  He  is  reported  to  have  been 
eminent  and  singularly  useful,  and  is  said  to  have  made  a  large  fortune 
by  his  medical  practice. 

It  is  not  likely  that  his  father  could  have  given  him  an  academic 
education.  But  as  he  taught  a  school  for  the  support  of  his  family,  for 
which  he  appears  to  have  been  well  qualified,  no  doubt  his  sons,  par- 
ticularly Matthew,  who  was  the  eldest,  had  the  rudiments  of  a  classical 
education  from  himself,  as  he  was  at  the  death  of  his  father  about  ten 
or  twelve  years  of  age.  And  it  is  very  likely  that  he  might  have 
obtained  additional  instruction  at  the  free  school  in  Dorchester,  and 
in  some  of  the  Dissenting  academies,  as  we  know  his  brother  Samuel 
did. 

Though  Matthew  be  generally  styled  a  physician,  yet  we  do  not 
know  that  he  ever  graduated,  or  studied  in  any  university,  unless  it 
were  in  a  foreign  one  ;  and  this  is  not  improbable,  as,  from  a  passage 
in  the  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Wesley,  it  appears  that  Mr.  M.  Wes- 
ley had  tried  all  the  spas  in  Europe,  both  in  Gennany  and  elsewhere. 
Former  times  were  not  so  nice  in  distinctions  as  the  present ;  sur- 
geons, apothecaries,  and  medical  practitioners  of  all  sorts,  were  gene- 
rally termed  physicians  or  doctors :  the  latter  was  the  most  usual  title  ; 
and  this  Matthew  Wesley  might  have  had  by  common  courtesy,  or 
he  might  have  had  it  by  right.  But  it  is  most  likely  that  he  had  it  by 
courtesy,  as  he  is  not  styled  physician,  M.  D.,  nor  even  doctor,  in  the 
verses  addressed  to  his  memory  by  the  person  who  signs  himself  Syl- 
vius, in  the  very  year  in  which  he  died.  Beside,  he  is  not  termed 
doctor  in  uny  of  the /amity  letters  which  have  come  under  my  notice. 

6 


42  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

This  at  present  is  a  matter  of  little  consequence,  and  cannot  now  be 
determined.  The  whole  family  of  the  Wesley  s  were  blest  with  a  genius 
that  surmounted  all  difficulties :  opposition  and  unfavourable  circum- 
stances only  served  as  a  stimulus  to  industry  and  enterprise  ;  and  they 
ever  rose  the  higher  in  proportion  to  the  causes  which  tended  to  de- 
press them.  This  is  the  grand  characteristic  of  all  the  branches  of  this 
family  with  whom  we  are  acquainted ;  and  we  may  safely  infer  it  was 
the  case  with  the  rest. 

Mr.  M.  Wesley  resided  and  practised  chiefly  in  London.  In  the 
year  1731  he  visited  his  brother's  family  at  Epworth.  This  visit  is 
described  by  Mrs.  Wesley  in  a  letter  to  her  son  John,  who  was  then  at 
Oxford  ;  and  as  it  contains  some  curious  particulars,  I  shall  lay  it  be- 
fore the  reader : — 

"My  brother  Wesley  had  designed  to  have  surprised  us,  and  had 
travelled  under  a  feigned  name  from  London  to  Gainsborough  :  but 
there  sending  his  man  out  for  a  guide  into  the  Isle  the  next  day,  the 
man  told  one  that  keeps  our  market  his  master's  name,  and  that  he 
was  going  to  see  his  brother,  which  was  minister  of  Epwotth.  The 
man  he  informed  met  with  Molly  in  the  market  about  an  hour  before 
my  brother  got  thither.  She,  full  of  the  news,  hastened  home,  and  told 
us  her  uncle  Wesley  was  coming  to  see  us :  but  we  could  hardly 
believe  her.  'Twas  odd  to  observe  how  all  the  town  took  the  alarm, 
and  were  upon  the  gaze,  as  if  some  great  prince  had  been  about  to 
make  his  entry.  He  rode  directly  to  John  Dawson's ;  (the  inn  ;)  but 
we  had  soon  notice  of  his  arrival,  and  sent  John  Brown  with  an 
invitation  to  our  house.  He  expressed  some  displeasure  at  his  servant 
for  letting  us  know  of  his  coming,  for  he  intended  to  have  sent  for  Mr. 
Wesley  to  dine  with  him  at  Dawson's,  and  then  come  to  visit  us  in  the 
afternoon.  However,  he  soon  followed  John  home,  where  we  were  all 
ready  to  receive  him  with  great  satisfaction. 

"  His  behaviour  among  us  was  perfectly  civil  and  obliging.  He 
spake  little  to  the  children  the  first  day,  being  employed  (as  he  after- 
ward told  them)  in  observing  their  carriage,  and  seeing  how  he  liked 
them  ;  afterward  he  was  very  free,  and  expressed  great  kindness  to 
them  all. 

"  He  was  strangely  .scandalized  at  the  poverty  of  our  furniture  ; 
and  much  more  at  the  meanness  of  the  children^  habit.  He  always 
talked  more  freely  with  your  sisters  of  our  circumstances  than  to  me  ; 
and  told  them  he  wondered  what  his  brother  had  done  with  his  income, 
for  'twas  visible  he  had  not  spsnt  it  in  furnishing  his  house,  or  clothing 
his  family. 

"  We  had  a  little  talk  together  sometimes,  but  it  was  not  often  we 
could  hold  a  private  conference  ;  and  he  was  very  shy  of  speaking  any 
thing  relating  to  the  children  before  your  father,  or  indeed  of  any  other 
matter.  I  informed  him,  as  far  as  I  handsomely  could,  of  our  losses, 
&c,  for  I  was  afraid  that  he  should  think  I  was  about  to  beg  of  him  : 
but  the  girls  (with  whom  he  had  many  private  discourses)  I  believe  told 
him  every  thing  they  could  think  on. 

"  He  was  particularly  pleased  with  Patty ;  and  one  morning  before 
Mr.  Wesley  came  down  he  asked  me  if  I  was  willing  to  let  Patty  go 


MATTHEW    WESLEY.  43 

and  stay  a  year  or  two  with  him  at  London !  «  Sister,'  says  he,  '  I 
have  endeavoured  already  to  make  one  of  your  children  easy  while  she 
lives  ;  and  if  you  please  to  trust  Patty  with  me,  I  will  endeavour  to 
make  her  so  too.'  Whatever  others  may  think,  I  thought  this  a 
generous  offer ;  and  the  more  so,  because  he  had  done  so  much  for 
Sukey  and  Hetty.  I  expressed  my  gratitude  as  well  as  I  could ;  and 
would  have  had  him  speak  to  your  father,  but  he  would  not  himself, 
he  left  that  to  me ;  nor  did  he  ever  mention  it  to  Mr.  Wesley  till  the 
evening  before  he  left  us. 

"  He  always  behaved  himself  very  decently  at  family  prayers,  and 
in  your  father's  absence  said  grace  for  us  before  and  after  meat.  Nor 
did  he  ever  interrupt  our  privacy :  but  went  into  his  own  chamber 
when  we  went  into  ours. 

"  He  stayed  from  Thursday  to  the  Wednesday  after ;  then  he  left  us 
to  go  to  Scarborough ;  from  whence  he  returned  the  Saturday  se'nnight 
after,  intending  to  stay  with  us  a  few  days ;  but  finding  your  sisters 
gone  the  day  before  to  Lincoln,  he  would  leave  us  on  Sunday  morning, 
for  he  said  he  might  see  the  girls  before  they  set  forward  for  London. 
He  overtook  them  at  Lincoln ;  and  had  Mrs.  Taylor,  Emily,  Kezzy, 
with  the  rest,  to  supper  with  him  at  the  Angel.  On  Monday  they 
breakfasted  with  him  ;  then  they  parted  expecting  to  see  him  no  more 
till  they  came  to  London  :  but  on  Wednesday  he  sent  his  man  to  invite 
them  to  supper  at  night.  On  Thursday  he  invited  them  to  dinner,  at 
night  to  supper,  and  on  Friday  morning  to  breakfast ;  when  he  took  his 
leave  of  them  and  rode  for  London.  They  got  into  town  on  Saturday 
about  noon  ;  and  that  evening  Patty  writ  me  an  account  of  her  journey. 

"  Before  Mr.  Wesley  went  to  Scarborough  I  informed  him  of  what 
I  knew  of  Mr.  Morgan's  case.  When  he  came  back  he  told  me  that 
'  he  had  tried  the  spa  at  Scarborough,  and  could  assure  me  that  it  far 
excelled  all  the  spas  in  Europe,  for  he  had  been  at  them  all,  both  in 
Germany  and  elsewhere ;  that  at  Scarborough  there  were  two  springs, 
as  he  was  informed,  close  together,  which  flowed  into  one  basin  ;  the 
one  a  chalybeate,  the  other  a  purging  water;  and  he  did  not  believe 
there  was  the  like  in  any  part  of  the  world.'  Says  he,  '  If  that  gentle- 
man you  told  me  of  could  by  any  means  be  gotten  thither,  though  his 
age  is  the  most  dangerous  time  in  life  for  his  distemper,  yet  I  am  of 
opinion  those  waters  would  cure  him.'  I  thought  good  to  tell  you  this, 
that  you  might  if  you  please  inform  Mr.  Morgan  of  it,  if  it  is  proper. 

"  Dear  Jackey,  I  can't  stay  now  to  talk  about  Hetty  and  Patty ; 
but  this-— 7  hope  better  of  both  than  some  others  do.  I  pray  God  to 
bless  you.  Adieu. 

"J«/y  12, 1731.  S.  W." 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  much  intimacy  between  Mat- 
thew Wesley  and  his  brother  Samuel.  Though  Mr.  Matthew  Wesley 
was  no  zealot,  yet  the  religious  change  of  his  brother  did  not,  I  am  led 
to  think,  please  him ;  and  hence  a  distance  was  naturally  occasioned 
between  the  two  brothers.  Mr.  Matthew  Wesley  was  also  a  careful  econ- 
omist, got  his  wealth  with  difficulty,  and  knowing  little  of  the  troubles  of 
a  family,  could  ill  judge  of  domestic  expenses  upon  a  large  scale. 

It  was  most  probably  just  after  the  visit  mentioned  above  that  he 


44  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

wrote  a  severe  and  caustic  letter  to  his  brother,  accusing  him  of  bad 
economy,  and  of  not  making  provision  for  his  Mrge  family ;  and  in- 
directly blaming  him  for  having  become  a  married  man. 

This  severe  letter  Mr.  S.  Wesley  answers  in  a  sort  of  serio-jocose 
style,  and  amply  vindicates  the  whole  of  his  conduct  against  what  he 
calls  the  imputation  of  his  ill  husbandry. 

Of  the  letter  of  Mr.  Matthew  only  an  extract  remains  in  the  hand- 
writing of  his  brother  Samuel.  I  shall  give  it  here,  and  refer  the  reader 
for  Mr.  S.  Wesley's  defence  to  the  memoirs  which  I  have  collected  of 
his  life.  The  letter,  which  is  without  date,  begins  thus  : — 

"  The  same  record  which  assures  us  an  infidel  cannot  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  also  asserts  in  the  consequence  that  a  worse  than 
an  infidel  can  never  do  it.  It  likewise  describes  the  character  of  such 
a  one, — He  provides  not  for  his  own,  especially  those  of  his  own  house. 

"  You  have  a  numerous  offspring ;  you  have  had  a  long  time,  a  plen- 
tiful estate  ;  great  and  generous  benefactions  ;  and  have  made  no  provi- 
sion for  those  of  your  own  house,  who  can  have  nothing  in  view  at  your 
exit  but  distress.  This  I  think  a  black  account ;  let  the  cause  be  folly, 
or  vanity,  or  ungovernable  appetites.  I  hope  Providence  has  restored 
you  again  to  give  you  time  to  settle  this  balance,  which  shocks  me  to 
think  of.  To  this  end  I  must  advise  you  to  be  frequent  in  your  perusal 
of  father  Beveridge  on  repentance,  and  Dr.  Tillolson  on  Restitution : 
for  it  is  not  saying,  Lord,  Lord  !  will  bring  us  to  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven,1 but  doing  justice  to  all  our  fellow  creatures;  and  not  a  poetical 
imagination  that  we  do  so.  A  serious  consideration  of  these  things, 
and  suitable  actions,  I  doubt  not,  will  qualify  you  to  meet  me  where 
sorrow  shall  be  no  more,  which  is  the  highest  hope  and  expectation 
of  yours,  &c." 

This  language  is  too  severe,  even  had  the  occasion  generally  justified 
the  critique.  Had  Mr.  S.  Wesley  imitated  the  conduct  of  his  brother 
Matthew,  John  and  Charles  Wesley  had  probably  never  been  born  ; — 
and  who  can  say  that  the  great  light  which  they  were  the  -instruments 
in  the  hand  of  God  of  pouring  out  upon  the  land  and  spreading  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth  had  ever  been  diffused  by  any  other  means  ? 
The  straits  and  difficulties  of  the  other  branch  of  this  family  were  cir- 
cumstances which,  in  the  order  of  God,  helped  to  turn  the  minds  of 
those  eminent  reformers  to  that  economy  and  discipline  which  in  pro- 
cess of  time  they  introduced  into  the  Methodist  societies,  for  which 
those  societies  are  remarkable,  and  by  which  they  are  distinguished  to 
the  present  day. 

Men  should  be  aware  how  they  arraign  the  dispensations  and  ordi- 
nances of  Divine  Providence.  It  is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone — 
therefore  God  instituted  marriage.  He  who  marries  docs  well :  and  it 
is  only  in  the  case  of  a  general  persecution  of  the  Church  that  he  who 
does  not  marry  does  better. 

Surgeon  Wesley  is  extinct !  Samuel,  his  brother,  still  lives  in  his 
natural  and  spiritual  progeny.  God  has  crowned  him  with  honour; 
and  it  is  with  difficulty  that  the  name  of  his  brother  has  been  rescued 
from  oblivion. 

Mr.  M.  Wesley  was,  however,  a  good  and  excellent  man  in  his  way : 


MATTHEW   WESLEY.  45 

but  appears  to  have  been  little  acquainted  with  the  heart,  the  feelings, 
the  joys,  and  sorrows,  of  a  parent. 

We  know  more  of  the  character  of  Surgeon  Wesley  from  some  lines 
to  his  memory  written  by  Mrs.  Wright,  than  from  any  other  source. 

From  these  we  learn  that  he  was  a  man  of  a  truly  benevolent  mind, — 
had  much  learning  and  information, — greatly  excelled  in  his  own  pro- 
fession, particularly  in  all  feminine  cases, — was  a  good  judge  and  lover 
of  poetry, — was  useful  to  his  brother  Samuel's  large  family, — was  the 
particular  patron,  friend,  and  support  of  his  niece  Mehctabel, — and  that 
he  was  adorned  with  every  art  and  grace,  and  saved  from  the  fear  of 
death.  He  breathed  his  last,  leaning  on  her  bosom,  some  time  in  the 
year  1737. 

I  shall  insert  the  verses  so  honourable  both  to  the  wide  and  his 
niece.     They  are  written  in  the  purest  spirit  of  poetry,  friendship,  and 
feeling ;  and  appeared  first  in  the  Christian  Magazine,  vol.  iii,  p.  284. 
Clio  is  her  assumed  poetic  name  ;  Varro  that  of  her  uncle. — 

How  can  the  muse  attempt  the  string, 

Forsaken  by  her  guardian  power  ? 
Ah  me !  that  she  survives  to  sing 

Her  friend  and  patron  now  no  more ! 
Yet  private  grief  she  might  suppress, 

Since  Clio  bears  no  selfish  mind ; 
But  oh !  she  mourns  to  wild  excess, 

The  friend  and  patron  of  mankind. 

Alas !  the  sovereign  healing  art, 

Which  rescued  thousands  from  the  grave, 
Unaided  left  the  gentlest  heart, 

Nor  could  its  skilful  master  save. 
Who  shall  the  helpless  sex  sustain, 

Now  Varro's  lenient  hand  is  gone  T 
Which  knew  so  well  to  soften  pain, 

And  ward  all  dangers  but  its  own. 

His  darling  muse,  his  Clio  dear, 
&9         Whom  first  his  favour  raised  to  fame ; 
His  gentle  voice  vouchsaf'd  to  cheer, 

His  art  upheld  her  tender  frame : 
Pale  envy  durst  not  show  her  teeth, 

Above  contempt  she  gaily  shone, 
Chief  favourite !  till  the  hand  of  death 

Endanger'd  both,  by  striking  one. 

Perceiving  well,  devoid  of  fear, 

His  latest  fatal  conflict  nigh  ; 
Reclined  on  her  he  held  most  dear, 

Whose  breast  received  his  parting  sigh ; 
With  every  art  and  grace  adorn'd, 

By  man  admired,  by  Heaven  approved — 
Good  Varro  died, — applauded,  mourn'd, 

And  honoured  by  the  Muse  he  loved. 

In  the  last  line  Mrs.  Wright  seems  to  refer  to  some  verses  on  the 
death  of  her  uncle,  written  by  other  hands. 

I  have  met  with  one  copy,  which  was  published  in  June,  1737,  in 
vol.  vii,  of  the  Gentleman's  Magazine.  And  as  that  work  is  very  scarce, 
and  the  verses  known  to  few  persons,  I  shall  insert  them  aa  a  testimony 


46  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

to  the  worth  of  a  man  who  appears  from  all  accounts  to  have  been  learn- 
ed, skilful,  humane,  modest,  and  pious. 

Verses  on  the  Death  of  Mr.  Maithevs  Wesley. 

When  vulgar  funerals  trail  their  pomp  along, 
We  idly  stand  amidst  the  gazing  throng. 
Perhaps  such  trite  reflections  rise,  "  Alas ! 
How  weak  the  human  frame !  all  flesh  is  grass, 
A  bubble  frail !  a  shade  that  swiftly  flies  ; 
A  flower  that  opes  at  morn,  at  evening  dies!" 
No  farther  we  the  serious  thought  pursue, 
Than  the  slight  inf 'rence,  "  We  must  follow  too !" 

But  if  the  fatal  final  hour  remove 
To  death's  black  shades  a  relative  we  love, 
Or  chosen  friend,  in  pressures  fully  tried, 
A  faithful  guardian,  counsellor,  and  guide ; 
More  awful  thoughts  are  by  the  stroke  imprest ; 
And  the  wise  aims  of  Providence  confest. 

"Can  righteous  Heaven"  (thus  right  we  argue  then,) 
Regardless  view  such  signal  worth  in  men  ? 
Their  virtue  and  their  piety  disown  ? 
And  shall  they  be  to  dark  oblivion  thrown  ? 
O,  no !  most  truly  Scripture  strains  attest,  ^ 

For  such  remains  an  everlasting  rest." 
Undoubted,  in  the  sacred  books  appears 
A  future  state  assigned  through  endless  years. 
And  still  we  find,  to  what  these  lights  reveal 
Our  calm  unbiass'd  reason  sets  her  seal. 

As  here  the  sun  with  his  prolific  rays, 
The  blooms  and  verdures  of  the  globe  displays ; 
So  GOD,  the  Sun,  that  heavenly  region  gilds, 
Spreads  endless  riches  o'er  its  blissful  fields. 
And  surely  as  that  Sun  shall  ever  shine, 
Those  endless  treasures,  Wesley,  all  are  thine ! 

Whate'er  with  lavish  fancy  poets  feign 
Of  bowery  scenes  and  an  Elysian  plain, 
Where  everlasting  zephyrs  waft  perfume, 
Fruits  ever  ripen,  flowers  for  ever  bloom ; 
Those  fruits  and  flowers  which  on  the  borders  grow 
Of  living  streams,  where  waves  of  nectar  flow  ; 
Where  happy  guests  on  rosy  beds  recline, 
.-  And  press  from  heavenly  grapes  immortal  wine  ; 

Whate'er  the  surer  Scripture  page  displays 
Of  golden  wreaths,  inchas'd  with  starry  rays, 
Which  crown  the  blest ;  the  shining  robes  they  wear, 
The  shouts  they  utter,  and  the  palms  they  bear, 
The  angel  songs  which  swell  the  concert  high, 
And  all  the  immortal  music  of  the  sky ! 
These  strong,  these  bright  ideas  are  too  faint 
The  joys  ineffable  of  heaven  to  paint. 

Thus  while  thy  drooping  friends  surround  thy  urn, 
We  meditate  thy  bliss,  and  cease  to  mourn  ; 
Recite  the  virtues  of  thy  life  below, 
Till  we  with  zealous  emulation  glow : 
Resolve  like  thine  our  future  life  to  frame, 
To  make  each  social,  useful  grace  our  aim ; 
To  propagate  true  knowledge,  void  of  guile, 
To  combat  craft,  whose  schemes  the  truth  defiie: 
To  cheer  the  afflicted,  the  deprest  to  raise, 
And  modest  worth  to  fortify  with  praise. 

'Twas  thus,  if  small  to  match  with  great  we  dare, 
A  mortal's  virtue  with  a  GOD'S  compare; 


MATTHEW    WESLEY.  47 

'Twas  thus  the  Saviour  of  the  world  exprest 
The  life  Divine,  in  human  semblance  drest ; 
Spotless  in  act,  unwearied  ILL  to  chase, 
And  arduous  for  the  weal  of  human  race. 

SYLVIUS. 

We  shall  meet  with  this  author  again,  when  we  come  to  the  account 
of  Mrs.  Wright,  the  Clio  of  her  uncle  Matthew.  I  cannot  find  that 
Mr.  Matthew  Wesley  left  any  papers  behind  him.  He  must  have  died 
when  far  advanced  in  life.  It  appears  that  his  father  was  a  married 
man,  and  had  a  family  in  1662  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Matthew,  who 
was  his  eldest  son,  might  have  been  born  about  the  year  1660,  and  as 
the  verses  on  his  death  were  inserted  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  in 
the  month  of  June,  1737,  in  which  year  he  certainly  died,  he  must  have 
been,  at  his  death,  about  seventy-six  or  seventy-seven  years  of  age. 

I  have  before  supposed  that  both  he  and  his  brother  Samuel  might 
have  had  the  rudiments  of  a  classical  education  from  their  father, 
though  they  were  both  young  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  former 
probably  ten,  or  twelve,  the  latter  eight  or  nine  years  of  age.  But  there 
was  such  an  aptitude  to  learn,  and  such  a  jyou-er  of  comprehension  in 
all  the  Wesley  family,  that  at  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age  they  had 
acquired  as  much  as  most  others  have  done  when  they  have  arrived  at 
sixteen.  We  shall  meet  proofs  of  this  as  we  proceed  in  the  history  of 
this  family. 

It  is  most  likely  that  Matthew  continued  with  the  Nonconformists 
till  his  death ;  as  we  find  no  intimation  that  he  left  their  communion. 
But  as  he  seems  to  have  taken  no  part  in  the  political  and  polemical 
disputes  which  divided  and  tortured  the  people  of  that  day,  he  was 
thought  by  several  to  be  indifferent  to  all  forms  of  religion.  "  Had 
this  been  so,"  says  Miss  Wesley,  in  a  letter  now  before  me,  "  I  should 
hardly  have  supposed  that  such  good  parents  as  my  grandfather,  and 
grandmother  would  have  entrusted  him  with  their  darling  daughter, 
[Martha.]  He  had  Hetty  before.  Martha  often  told  me  she  never 
had  reason  to  believe  it,  as  he  approved  her  habit  of  going  regularly  to 
morning  prayers  at  Church,  and  was  exemplarily  moral  in  his  words 
and  actions,  esteeming  religion,  but  never  talking  of  its  mysteries. 
Silence  on  the  subject  in  that  age,  where  controversy  was  frequent, 
might  give  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  he  was  skeptically  inclined, 
especially  in  a  family  jealous  for  its  spirituality." 

Patty  lived  long  with  him,  and  was  used  by  him  with  the  greatest 
tenderness :  but  she  complained  that  he  was  not  decidedly  religious* 
though  he  was  strictly  moral  in  his  conduct,  and  highly  esteemed  piety 
in  others.  See  a  letter  of  hers  to  her  brother  John,  in  the  Memoirs  of 
her  Life. 

There  is  an  excellent  saying  of  his  recorded  by  Mrs.  S.  Wesley  in 
a  letter  to  her  son  John  in  1735,  which  should  not  be  omitted: — 
"  Never  let  any  man  know  that  you  have  heard  what  he  has  said  against 
you.  It  may  be  he  spake  on  misinformation,  or  was  in  a  passion,  or 
did  it  in  a  weak  compliance  with  the  company  ;  perhaps  he  has  changed 
his  mind,  and  is  sorry  for  having  done  it,  and  may  continue  friendly  to 
you.  But  if  he  finds  that  you  are  acquainted  with  what  he  has  said. 


48  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

he  will  conclude  you  cannot  forgive  him,  and  upon  that  supposition 
will  become  your  enemy." 

I  have  heard  that  Mr.  Surgeon  Wesley  had  a  son  who  was  educated 
at  Oxford,  but  shortened  his  life  by  intemperance :  but  of  any  other 
part  of  his  famiK  I  have  heard  nothing;  nor  do  I  know  whether  the 
above  inform.  he  correct,  as  he  appears  rather  as  a  bachelor  in  the 
scanty  memou.  :  Kave  been  able  to  glean  up  of  his  life. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPVVORTH, 
Father  of  Hie  Rev.  John  Wesley,  Founder  of  the  J\lethodists. 

WE  have  already  seen  that  John  Wesley,  vicar  of  IVhitchurch, 
Dorsetshire,  left  two  sons,  Matthew  and  Samuel.  Of  the  former  we 
have  spoken  according  to  the  scanty  documents  which  remain.  Of 
the  latter  we  have  more  copious  materials,  with  some  original  informa- 
tion which  has  never  yet  been  laid  before  the  public. 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  appears  to  have  been  born  at  Whitchurch  in 
the  year  1662.  He  was  educated  at  the  free  school  at  Dorchester, 
and  afterward  he  became  a  pupil  in  Mr.  Morton's  academy,  among  the 
Dissenters ;  and  in  both  places  he  appears  to  have  profited  much  in 
classical  learning ;  though  there  were  many  things  in  the  private  acade- 
mies of  the  Dissenters  with  which  he  found  fault,  and  which,  from  one 
of  his  publications  on  the  subject,  we  learn  were  very  reprehensible : 
but  they  appear  *o  ;un  t»  been  chiefly  of  a  political  nature.  His  objec- 
tions to  the  mannc ••:  m  which  the  Dissenting  academies  were  conducted 
he  stated  in  a  private  I'-tter  to  a  friend  ;  who,  several  years  after,  without 
Mr.  Wesley's  consent  or  knowledge,  published  the  letter,  which  pro- 
duced a  controversy  that  shall  be  noticed  in  its  proper  place. 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  was  designed  for  the  ministry  among  the  Non- 
conformists ;  and  in  their  principles  he  had  been  carefully  educated. 
How  he  came  to  change  his  views,  and  become  a  zealous  Churchman, 
his  son,  the  late  Mr.  John  Wesley,  stated  as  follows : — 

"  Some  severe  invectives  being  written  against  the  Dissenters,  Mr. 
S.  Wesley  being  a  young  man  of  considerable  talents,  was  pitched 
upon  to  answer  it.  This  set  him  on  a  course  of  reading  which  soon 
produced  an  effect  very  different  from  what  had  been  intended.  Instead 
of  writing  the  wished-for  answer,  he  himself  conceived  he  saw  reason 
to  change  his  opinions ;  and  actually  formed  a  resolution  to  renounce 
the  Dissenters,  and  attach  himself  to  the  Established  Church. 

"  He  lived  at  that  time  with  his  mother  and  an  old  aunt,  both  of 
whom  were  too  strongly  attached  to  the  Dissenting  doctrines  to  have 
borne  with  any  patience  the  disclosure  of  his  design.  He,  therefore, 
got  up  one  morning  at  a  very  early  hour,  and,  without  acquainting  any 
one  with  his  purpose,  set  out  on  foot  to  Oxford,  and  entered  himself 
of  Exeter  College." 

Mr.  Wesley  has  been  accused  by  Mr.  Palmer  and  others,  that 
"  when  he  resolved  to  go  to  the  Church  of  England,  he  took  twenty 
pounds  of  the  Dissenters'  money,  and  then  left  them." — Palmer's 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,   RECTOR  OF    EPWORTH.  49 

Defence,  p.  20.  This  charge  is  most  disingenuously  produced;  as 
it  seems  to  insinuate  that  he  had  purloined  so  much  of  their  property, 
and  then  decamped.  Whereas  the  truth  is,  he  had  received  twenty 
pounds  of  a  legacy,  part  of  which  he  immediately  paid  Mr.  JVforfcm, 
at  whose  academy  he  was ;  with  the  rest  he  discharged  some  debts 
which  he  owed  to  the  Dissenters,  and  took  not  one  farthing  of  it  to 
Oxford ;  the  money  necessary  for  his  footing  it  thither  being  otherwise 
supplied. — Jlnswer,  p.  57. 

Mr.  S.  Wesley  was  at  this  time  about  twenty-two  years  of  age  ;  for 
from  the  registers  of  Exeter  College  it  appears  that  his  caution  money 
was  paid  to  Mr.  Richard  Hutchins,  Bursar,  by  Mr.  William  Cra66, 
then  dean  of  that  college,  on  September  26,  1684,  which  was  returned 
December  22, 1686. 

The  whole  entry  as  obtained  from  Exeter  College,  and  given  by 
Mr.  Southey,  is  as  follows  : — 


Deposit  of  Caution  Money. 

Sept.  26,1084. 

Mro.  Hutchins  pro  Snmuele  Westley, 
paup.  Schol.  de  Dorchester,  31. 

Ric.  Hutchins. 
GuiL  Crabb. 

Feb.  9,  1686. 

Mro.  Paynter,  pro.  Samuele  Westley, 
p.  schol.  oliin  adimsso.  31. 

Guil.  Paynter. 
Ric.  Hutchins. 


Return  of  Caution  Money. 

Dec.  22,  1636.  [5?]    ' 
Samueli  Westley,  pro  seipso,  31. 


Ric.  Hutchins. 
Samuel  Westley. 


Jan   10,  1687 

Mihi  ipsi  pro  impensis  Coll.  debitis  ad 
fest  Nat.  87.  31. 

Jo.  Harris. 


From  this  entry  it  would- appear  that  Dean  Crabb  laid  down  the  first 
caution  money  for  Mr.  S.  Wesley.  There  is  a  note  on  these  entries 
as  given  by  Mr.  Southey,  which  1  shall  copy. 

"The  pauper  scholaris  was  the  lowest  of  the  four  conditions  of 
members  not  on  the  foundation,  as  the  annexed  table,  copied  from  one 
prefixed  to  the  Caution  Book,  shows : 


Summae 

tradcndcc 

Bursario  pro 

ratione 

diversarum 

conditionum 

scire. 


1.  Commensalium  }  1.  Sociorum 6'. 

admissorum  ad  > 

mensam             )  2.  Propriam 51. 

2.  Battallariorium .  <tf. 

3.  Paupcrum  Scholarium 31. 


"There  seems  reason  to  suspect  that  December  22,  1686,  in  the 
first  entry  of  return  should  be  1685  ;  for  otherwise  Samuel  Westley 
will  appear  to  have  two  cautions  in  at  once  ;  and  from  the  state  of  his 
finances,  this  is  peculiarly  improbable." 

I  do  not  see  any  difficulty  here.  The  entry  is  most  probably  correct ; 
for,  in  two  years  after  his  admission,  so  fertile  a  genius  and  so  diligent 
a  man  might  be  well  supposed  to  be  capable  of  raising  such  requisite 
small  sums  :  for  in  the  preceding  year,  1685,  he  had  published  his  first 
work,  intituled  Maggots^  for  which  his  brother-in-law,  J.  Dunlon,  the 

7 


SO  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

publisher,  gave  him  as  much  as  he  could  afford.  He  took  his  bachelor's 
degree  in  1688. 

Though  Mr.  Wesley's  opinions  might  on  this  occasion  have  been 
much  shaken,  yet  he  was  not  wholly  detached  from  the  Dissenters 
either  in  affection  or  religious  fellowship  till  after  his  return  from  the 
university.  I  shall  give  the  relation  in  his  own  words,  which  must  be 
considered  as  the  only  true  account. 

[Mr.  Wesley  states  that  he  left  the  Dissenters  in  1693 ;  and  in  that 
same  year  it  appears  he  entered  into  the  Church,  and  got  either  a 
curacy  or  a  living.  I  dare  not  vouch  for.  the  correctness  of  this  state- 
ment. It  is  possible  that  both  events  took  place  in  the  same  year.] 

"  When  I  came  from  the  university,  my  acquaintance  lay  chiefly 
among  the  Dissenters ;  having  scarce  any  intimacy  before  I  went  thither 
from  London  with  any  of  the  Church  of  England,  unless  with  two  Rev. 
and  icorthy  persons,  my  relations,  who  lived  at  a  great  distance  ;  one  of 
whom  coming  to  London,  was  so  kind  as  to  see  me  while  I  was  at 
Mr.  Morton's  ;  and  gave  me  such  arguments  against  that  schism  which 
I  was  then  embarked  with,  as  added  weight  to  my  resolutions  when  I 
began  to  think  of  leaving  it.  But  after  my  return  to  London  I  con- 
tracted an  acquaintance  with  a  gentleman  of  the  Church  of  England, 
who,  knowing  my  former  way  of  life,  did  often  importune  me  to  give 
him  an  account  in  writing  of  the  Dissenters'  methods  of  education  in 
their  private  academies ;  concerning  which  he  had  heard  several  pas- 
sages from  me  in  conversation,  though  for  some  time  I  did  not  satisfy 
him  therein ;  and  it  was  the  following  remarkable  occurrence  which 
altered  my  inclinations  as  to  that  affair.  I  happened  to  be  with  some 
of  my  fowier  acquaintance  at  a  house  in  Leadenhall-street,  or  there- 
abouts, in  the  year  1693.  All  of  them  I  remember  were  then  Dissenters, 
except  one,  and  he  has  since  left  the  Church  of  England.  Their  dis- 
course was  so  fulsomely  lewd  and  profane,  that  I  could  not  endure  it ; 
but  went  to  the  other  side  of  the  room  with  a  doctor  of  physic ;  who 
had  been  my  fellow  pupil  at  JVfr.  Morton's ;  and  to  whom  I  owe  that 
justice  to  declare  that  he  likewise  disliked  the  conversation. 

"A  little  after  we  went  to  supper  :  but  then  the  scene  was  changed  ; 
and  they  all  fell  a  railing  at  monarchy,  and  blaspheming  the  memory 
of  King  Charles  the  martyr,  discoursing  of  their  calves-head  club,  and 
producing  or  repeating  some  verses  on  that  subject.  I  remember  one 
of  the  company  told  us  of  a  design  that  they  had  at  their  next  calves- 
head  feast,  to  have  a  cold  pie  served  on  the  table,  with  either  a  live  cat 
or  hare,  I  have  forgot  whether,  enclosed ;  and  they  contrived  to  put 
one  of  their  company  who  loved  monarchy,  and  knew  nothing  of  the 
matter  to  cut  it  up ;  whereupon,  and  on  the  leaping  out  of  the  cat  or 
hare  they  were  all  to  set  up  a  shout,  and  cry,  Halloo  old  puss  !  to  the 
honour  of  the  good  old  cause,  and  to  show  their  affection  to  a  common- 
wealth. Since  I  wrote  this,  I  got  a  sight  of  the  calves-head  anthems ; 
and  in  that  for  the  year  1694  I  find  these  verses, — 

"  Then  to  puss,  boys ;  to  puss,  boys ! 
Let  us  drink  it  off  thus,  boys !" 

on  which,  if  I  mistake  not,  this  story  will  be  a  good  comment. 


SAMUEL   WE3LEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  51 

*'  By  this  as  well  as  by  several  other  discourses  which  I  heard  among 
them,  I  found  that  their  principles  were  not  at  all  altered :  and  these 
conversations  so  turned  my  stomach  against  them,  and  gave  me  such  a 
just  indignation  against  such  villainous  principles  and  practices,  that  I 
returned  to  my  lodgings,  and  resolved  to  draw  up  what  the  gentleman 
desired,  &c."  Defence  of  Letter,  &c,  p.  4 

This  is  his  own  account  of  his  utterly  separating  himself  from  the 
communion  of  the  Dissenters  ;  though  his  mind  appears  to  have  had  a 
predisposing  bias  to  that  separation  for  some  time. 

But,  though  neither  a  Dissenter,  nor  their  apologist,  I  must  observe 
that  the  conclusions  which  Mr.  S.  Wesley  drew  were  not  entirely  sup- 
ported by  the  premises.  Perhaps  a  more  barbarous,  abominable,  and 
sickening  institution  than  the  calves-head  club  never  disgraced  the 
convivial  assemblies  of  a  Christian  country;  and  those  who  were  capa- 
ble of  sitting  down  to  such  a  repast,  with  its  concomitant  representations 
and  recollections,  could  not,  I  imagine,  hesitate,  if  among  our  antipodes 
in  New  Zealand,  to  sit  down  to  have  their  share  of  a  roasted  human 
victim.  But  still  the  calves-head  club  was  not  the  body  of  the  Dissent- 
ers ;  nor  was  it  ever  approved  by  that  body  ;  therefore  its  proceedings 
are  not  fairly  chargeable  upon  the  Dissenters;  some  classes  of  whom 
were  cordially  averse  from  the  death  of  the  king,  though  they  had  a 
deep  conviction  that  his  aim  was  to  establish  an  arbitrary  power  in  the 
state,  and  Popery  in  the  Church :  and  let  me  add,  that  they  were  among 
the  foremost  to  restore  the  monarchy. 

Mr.  S.  Wesley's  ancestors  were  all  Dissenters.  They  had  many 
conscientious  scruples  against  joining  in  the  communion  of  the  Church, 
and  admitting  its  hierarchy  ;  yet  it  does  not  appear  that  there  was  one 
disloyal  man  among  them  :  and  in  the  heat  of  his  zeal  for  the  Church, 
after  his  conversion  from  Dissenting  principles,  Mr.  S.  Wesley  in  his 
controversial  writings  often  overstepped  the  bounds  of  Christian  mode- 
ration. But  in  those  unhappy  times  all  parties  ran  into  extremes. 

When  Mr.  S.  Wesley  entered  himself  at  Oxford,  he  had  only  two 
pounds  five  shillings  ;  and  no  prospect  of  future  supplies,  except  from 
his  own  exertions.  However,  he  supported  himself  by  publishing,  and 
probably  by  assisting  the  younger  students,  till  he  took  his  bachelor's 
degree,  without  any  preferment  or  assistance  from  his  friends,  but  only 
five  shillings.  See  his  letter  to  his  brother  Matthew. 

He  now  came  to  London,  having  increased  his  little  stock  to  ten 
pounds  fifteen  shillings.  He  was  ordained  deacon,  and  obtained  a 
curacy  of  twenty-eight  pounds  per  annum,  which  he  held  one  year; 
and  was  then  appointed  a  chaplain  aboard  the  fleet,  where  he  had  se- 
venty pounds  per  annum.  This  appointment  he  held  for  only  one  year; 
and  then  came  to  London,  and  obtained  another  curacy  of  thirty  pounds 
per  annum,  (see  the  above  letter  to  his  brother  Matthew,)  which  he  held 
two  years  ;  and  which  income  by  his  industry  and  writings  he  raised  to 
sirlij  pounds  per  annum. 

He  then  married  ;  had  a  son  ;  (Samuel ;)  and  he,  his  wife,  and  child, 
lived  in  lodgings ;  till  some  years  after,  in  1693,  he  had  the  living  of 
South  Ormsby  in  the  county  of  Lincoln  given  to  him,  worth  about  fifty 
pounds  per  annum. 


52  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

This  I  believe  was  the  place  of  which  Mr.  John  Wesley  gave  the 
following  account : — 

"  My  father's  first  preferment  in  the  Church  was  a  small  parish 
(South  Ormsby)  given  him  by  a  nobleman,  (marquis  of  Normanby.) 
This  nobleman  had  a  house  in  the  parish,  where  a  woman  who  lived 
with  him  usually  resided.  This  lady  toould  be  intimate  with  my  mother 
whether  she  would  or  not.  To  such  an  intercourse  my  father  would 
not  submit.  Coming  in  one  day,  and  finding  this  intrusive  visitant 
sitting  with  my  mother,  he  went  up  to  her,  took  her  by  the  hand,  and 
very  fairly  handed  her  out.  The  nobleman  resented  the  affront  so 
outrageously  as  to  make  it  necessary  for  my  father  to  resign  the  living." 
While  he  possessed  the  living  of  South  Ormsby  he  had  five  children. 
I  have  already  hinted  that  while  at  college  Mr.  Wesley  supported 
himself  partly  by  publishing.  As  this  circumstance  is  but  little 
known,  I  shall  be  more  particular  in  my  statement  of  it. 

Mr.  Wesley's  intimacy  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Annesley  was  most 
likely  brought  about  by  his  acquaintance  with  the  famous  eccentric 
bookseller,  John  Dunton,  well  known  in  the  typographical  history  of 
England. 

On  the  3d  August,  1682,  this  gentleman  espoused  Elizabeth,  one  of 
the  daughters  of  Dr.  Samuel  Annesley.  Another  of  whom,  Susannah, 
the  youngest,  Mr.  Wesley  afterward  married. — See  above.  Mr. 
Dunton  has  been  called  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  near  relative.  But  there 
was  no  other  relationship  between  them  but  what  was  consequent  on 
marrying  two  sisters. 

Mr.  Dunton  being  an  adventurous  publisher,  Mr.  Wresley  employed 
him  to  print  and  publish  his  first  work, — the  title  of  which  is  as  fol- 
lows,— "  MAGGOTS,  or  Poems  on  several  subjects  never  before  han- 
dled." Octavo,  London,  1685.  John  Dunton 

To  this  work  Mr.  Wesley  did  not  put  his  name.  But  there  was 
prefixed  a  portrait,  to  the  knees,  of  a  man  (the  author)  crowned  with 
laurel,  writing  at  a  table  ;  on  his  forehead  a  maggot,  and  underneath 
these  verses, — 

In  his  own  defence  the  author  writes, 
Because  when  this  foul  maggot  bites 

He  ne'er  can  rest  in  quiet : 
Which  makes  him  make  so  sad  a  face, 
He'd  beg  your  worship  or  your  grace 
Unsight,  unseen,  to  buy  it. 

"  It  is  to  be  regretted,"  says  Mr.  Grainger,  who  describes  this  por- 
trait, vol.  iv,  p.  329,  "  that  Mr.  Samuel,  Wesley's  vein  of  poetry  was 
not  exhausted  when  he  published  his  Maggots ;  as  he  incurred  the 
censure  of  Garth  in  his  '  Dispensary)'  who  severely  lashes  him  in  these 
lines :» 

"  Had  Wesley  never  aim'd  in  verse  to  please, 
He  had  not  ranked  with  our  Ogilbys. 
Still  censures  will  on  dull  pretenders  fall ; 
A  Codrus  should  expect  a  Juvenal  /" 

This  is  as  splenetic  as  it  is  unjust, — and  Mr.  Wesley  in  two  lines 
most  amply  turned  the  scorpion's  sting  upon  its  own  head, — 

What  wonder  he  should  Wesley  Codrus  call, 
Who  dares  surname  himself  a  Juvenal ! 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTM.  53 

The  learned  reader  will  at  once  recollect  that  Garth  alludes  to 
Juv.  Sat.  iii,  ver.  203. — 

l.tctus  erat  Codro, — 4"*. 

Nil  habuit  Codrus  ;  quis  enim  negat  ?  et  lumen  illud 
Perdidit  infelix  totum  nil :  ullimus  autem 
•tErumnce  cumulus,  quod  nitdum,  et  fnistra  roganiem, 
AVmo  cibo,  nemo  hospitio,  tectoque  juvabit. 

Codrus  had  but  one  bed, — &c. 
'Tis  true,  poor  Codrus  nothing  had  to  boast, 
And  yet  poor  Codrus  all  that  nothing  lost ; 
Begged  naked  thro'  the  streets  of  wealthy  Rome, 
And  found  not  one  to  feed  or  take  him  home. 

DRTDEN. 

I  see  no  lashing  here  :  the  fact  of  the  poverty  of  Codws,  and  the 
public  neglect  of  him,  is  stated  by  Juvenal.  If  misfortune  and  public 
neglect  of  the  merits  of  a  poet  be  fit  subjects  for  satire,  not  only  Cod- 
rus, but  Milton, — who  pot  but  five  pounds  for  his  Paradise  Lost,  the 
best  poem  ever  written,*  and  Edmund  Spencer,  (who  is  said  to  have 
died  in  a  garret,)  whose  works  are  as  far  beyond  every  thing  that  Garth 
wrote  as  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe  is  beyond  a  molehill, — may  all  come 
in  for  a  very  large  share.  Beside,  Juvenal  appears  more  to  lament 
the  misfortune  of  Codrus  than  to  find  fault  with  him. 

The  judgment  of  the  author  of  a  poem  intituled,  "  The  Reformation 
of  Manners"  was  more  candid  to  the  man,  while  he  justly  lashed  the 
profligacy  of  the  times. 

"  Wesley  with  pen  and  poverty  beset, 
And  Blackmore  vers'd  in  physic  as  in  wit, 
Though  this  of  JESUS,  that  of  JOB  may  sing, 
One  bawdy  play  will  t\v  ice  their  profits  bring." 

Mr.  Wesley's  poetic  talents,  of  whatever  order,  were  always  em* 
ployed  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  moral  purity.  Garth,  whose  muse 
had  a  strong  pinion,  prostituted  his  talents  in  publishing  versions  of  the 
most  abominable  parts  of  the  vilest  productions  of  Ovid  But  he  is 
gone  to  another  tribunal. 

The  worst  that  his  brother-in-law,  Dunton,  could  say  of  Mr.  Wesley, 
when  he  quarrelled  with  him,  was  this  : — 

"  He  loves  too  much  the  Heliconian  strand, 
Whose  stream's  unfurnished  with  the  golden  sand" 

By  this  first  publication,  Maggots,  he  probably  gained  little.  But 
he  wrote*  many  poetical  pieces  for  Dunton  while  he  was  at  college,  for 
which  he  was  liberally  rewarded.  This  he  in  effect  acknowledges 
in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Dunton,  apologizing  for  a  long  silence. 

*  Mr.  John  Millon  sold  his  copy  of  Paradise  Lost,  April  27,  1G67,  to  Mr.  Samuel 
Simmons,  for  an  immediate  payment  of  five  pounds,  with  a  stipulation  to  receive  five 
pounds  more  when  thirteen  hundred  should  be  sold  of  the  first  edition  ;  and  again _/ip« 
pounds  after  the  sale  of  the  same  number  of  the  second  edition,  and  another/ire  ;MWH</S 
afur  the  same  sale  of  the  third.  None  of  the  three  editions  was  to  extend  beyond 
thirteen  hundred  copies.  The  third  edition  was  published  in  167S ;  and  Milton's 
widow,  to  whom  the  copyright  then  devolved,  sold  all  her  claims  to  Mr.  Simmons 
for  eight  pounds  !  and  Simmons  transferred  his  whole  right  to  Jlrabazon  Jlylmtr  for 
twenty-five  pounds.  Only  three  thousand  copies  of  this  incomparable  work  were  sold 
in  eleven  years. 


54  or*  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"  Epworth,  July  24,  1697. 

u  DEARBROTHER, — It  has  been  neither  unkindnessto  you,with  whom 
1  have  traded,  and  been  justly  used  for  many  years,  which  has  made  me 
so  long  neglect  answering  your  several  letters ;  but  the  hurry  of  a  re- 
moval, and  my  extraordinary  business ;  being  obliged  to  preach  the 
visitation  sermon  at  Gainsborough,  at  the  bishop's  coming  thither, 
which  is  but  just  over.  Beside  I  would  fain  have  sent  you  an  elegy,  as 
well  as  an  epitaph,  but  cannot  get  one  to  my  mind  ;  and  therefore  you 
must  be  content  with  half  your  desire.  And  if  you  please  to  accept 
this  epitaph,  it  is  at  your  service;  and  I  hope  it  will  come  before  you 
will  need  another  epithalamium. 

"  I  am  your  obliged  friend  and  brother, 

"  S.  WESLEY." 
JVte/io/s'  Literary  Anecdotes,  vol.  v,  p.  213. 

In  a  note  on  this  letter  Mr.  Nichols  observes,  "  that  elegies, 
epitaphs,  and  epithalamiums,  were  articles  in  which  Dunton  traded  ;  and 
regularly  sold  them  ready  made."  This,  therefore,  was  one  source 
from  which  Mr.  Wesley  derived  subsistence  both  while  at  college,  and 
after  he  left  it.  But  another  source,  less  precarious  and  more  regular, 
was  the  following  : — 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1691  John  Dunton  projected  a  paper 
which  was  at  first  intituled,  "  The  Athenian  Gazette  or  Casuistical 
Mercury,  resolving  all  the  nice  and  curious  questions  proposed  by  the 
ingenious  :"  but  which  in  a  little  time,  "  to  oblige  authority,"  he  altered 
to  the  Athenian  Mercury.  And  the  project  was  founded,  as  himself 
tells  us,  on  Acts  xvii,  21  :  "For  all  the  ATHENIANS,  and  strangers 
which  were  there,  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else  but  either  to  TELL  or  to 
HEAR  some  new  thing."  The  object  of  the  work  was  to  receive  and 
answer  all  questions  in  all  faculties  and  departments  of  literature.  Mr. 
Dunton's  account  of  this  undertaking,  and  the  persons  employed  in  it, 
which  were  denominated  The  Athenian  Society,  will  not  be  unaccepta- 
ble to  the  reader,  as  particularly  connected  with  the  subject  of  these 
pages. 

"  When  I  had  thus  formed  the  design,"  says  he,  "  I  found  that  some 
assistance  was  absolutely  necessary  to  carry  it  on  ;  in  regard  the  project 
took  in  the  whoh  compass  of  learning,  and  the  nature  of  it  required 
despatch.  I  had  then  some  acquaintance  with  the  ingenious  Mr. 
Richard  Sault,  who  turned  Malebranche  into  English  for  me,  and  was 
admirably  well  skilled  in  the  Mathematics.  To  him  I  unbosomed 
myself,  and  he  very  freely  offered  to  become  concerned.  So  soon  as 
the  design  was  well  advertised,  Mr.  Sault  and  myself,  without  any 
more  assistance,  settled  to  it  with  great  diligence  ;  and  Nos.  1,  and  2, 
were  entirely  of  Mr.  Sault's  composure  and  mine.  The  project  being 
surprising  and  unthought  of,  we  were  immediately  overloaded  with 
letters.  The  Athenian  Gazette  made  now  such  a  noise  in  the  world, 
and  was  so  universally  received,  that  we  were  obliged  to  look  out  after 
more  members.  The  ingenious  Dr.  Norris  very  generously  offered 
his  assistance  gratis ;  but  refused  to  become  a  stated  member  of 
Athena.  He  was  wondrously  useful  in  supplying  hints. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  55 

"  The  undertaking  growing  every  week  upon  our  hands,  the  impa- 
tience of  our  querists,  and  the  curiosity  of  their  questions,  which 
required  a  great  deal  of  accuracy  and  care,  did  oblige  us  to  adopt  a 
third  member  of  Athens  ;  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley  being  just 
come  to  town,  all  new  from  the  university,  and  my  acquaintance  with 
him  being  very  intimate,  I  easily  prevailed  with  him  to  embark  himself 
upon  the  same  bottom,  and  in  the  same  cause.  With  this  new  addition, 
we  found  ourselves  to  be  masters  of  the  whole  design;  and  thereupon 
we  neither  lessened  nor  increased  our  number." 

In  this  work  no  names  were  given  to  the  public.  It  was  published 
every  Tuesday  and  Saturday;  consisted  of  a  single  folio;  and  the  first 
number  made  its  appearance  Tuesday,  March  17,  1691.  Each  number 
was  one  penny.  Thirty  numbers,  that  is,  sixty  pages,  made  what  was 
called  a  volume  ;  and  stitched  in  marble  paper  was  sold  for  two  shil- 
lings and  sixpence ;  and  the  work  was  continued  to  the  twentieth  vo- 
lume, "  when,"  says  Mr.  Dunton,  "  we  took  up,  to  give  ourselves  a 
little  ease  and  refreshment ;  for  the  labours  and  travels  of  the  mind  are 
as  expensive,  and  wear  the  spirits  off  as  fast,  as  those  of  the  body." 

The  society  was  never  composed  of  more  than  three  members: — 
Mr.  John  Dunton,  the  projector;  Mr.  Richard  Sault,  and  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Wesley.  Among  the  contributors  to  this  undertaking  were 
some  of  the  first  men  of  the  nation,  viz.  Dr.  Norris,  Daniel  De  Foe, 
J\lr.  Richardson,  Nahum  Tate,  poet  laureate,  Dean  Swift,  the  Marquis 
of  Halifax,  Sir  William  Temple,  Sir  Thomas  Pope,  Blount,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Hedges,  Sir  Peter  Pett,  Mr.  Motteaux,  &c.  Occasionally  they 
published  supplements  to  the  volumes  relating  to  foreign  literature,  of 
which  they  were  a  sort  of  general  review. 

Though  there  were  never  more  than  three  members  in  this  society, 
yet  in  the  advertisement  to  the  thirteenth  number  it  is  stated,  "We 
have  now  taken  into  our  society  a  civilian,  a  doctor  of  physic,  and  a 
chirurgeon,"  [quere,  Matthew  Wesley?]  and  they  therefore  proposed 
answering  all  questions  in  those  sciences.  Those,  whoever  they  were, 
could  be  only  assistants ;  for  Messrs.  Dunton,  Sault,  and  Wesley,  were 
the  proprietors,  and  no  doubt  divided  the  profits,  which  must  have  been, 
.  considerable  for  the  time.  Their  names  were  never  disclosed  till  Dun- 
ton  published  his  Memoirs ;  and  their  profound  secrecy  contributed 
much  both  to  their  credit  and  emolument. 

In  mentioning  the  name  of  Mr.  Richard  Sault,  I  am  necessarily  led 
to  notice  a  work  which  then  made  a  great  deal  of  noise  in  the  world, 
and  since  that  time  both  noise  and  mischief.  I  mean  a  pamphlet  in- 
tituled, "  The  Second  Spira,  or  a  Narrative  of  the  Death  of  the  Hon.  Fr. 

N 1,  son  of  the  late ,"  published  by  John  Dunton  ;  and 

republished  by  the  late  Mr.  J.  Wesley,  in  the  Arminian  Magazine 
for  1783,  p.  24,  &c. 

When  I  first  saw  this  account,  I  believed  it  to  be,  what  I  ever  thought 
and  still  think,  the  FIRST  Francis  Spira  to  be,  a  forgery ;  and  a  forgery 
of  the  most  dangerous  tendency,  calculated  only  to  drive  weak  persons, 
and  those  especially  who  are  afflicted  with  morbid  melancholy,  into 
utter  despair.  I  was  ready  however  to  grant,  that  if  the  stories  were 
founded  on  any  fact,  the  persons  who  were  the  subjects,  must  have 


56  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

been  in  a  state  of  derangement;  as  both  accounts  flatly  contradict  Our 
Lord's  assertion,  "  EVERY  one  that  asketh,  receiveth  ;  and  he  that  seek- 
eth,  findeth;  and  to  him  that  knocketh,  IT  SHALL  be  opened,"  Matt,  vii,  8. 

That  my  judgment  concerning  the  Second  Spira  was  not  wrong  I 
learn  from  John  Dunton  himself;  who,  in  the  work  he  intitules  John 
Dunton's  Life  and  Errors,  published  by  him  in  1705,  and  since  repub- 
lished  by  Mr.  Nichols,  vol.  i,  p.  154,  gives  us  the  history  of  this  work  ; 
for  which  it  appears  he  had  been  frequently  called  to  an  account.  He 
tells  us  that  he  received  the  account  from  the  above  Mr.  Richard 
Sault,  who  told  him  that  he  "  had  received  the  memoirs  out  of  which 
he  had  formed  the  copy,  from  a  divine  of  the  Church  of  England  ;"  and 
he  pretended  to  confirm  the  truth  of  it,  by  "  a  letter  and  a  preface  from 
the  same  gentleman."  Several  clergymen,  who  came  to  examine  Mr. 
Dunton  on  the  truth  of  the  story,  he  introduced  to  Mr.  Sault,  who  gave 
them  the  same  relation  ;  but  took  care  not  to  commit  himself  by  refer- 
ring to  names  or  places. 

When  this  matter  was  sifted  to  the  bottom,  it  was  found  that  the  story 
could  be  traced  to  no  authentic  source  ;  and  that  it  was  wholly  the  con- 
trivance of  Mr.  Sault;  who  being  a  man  often  afllicted  with  morbid 
melancholy,  and  its  insupportable  companion  despair  of  God's  mercy, 
wrote  it  as  a  picture  of  his  own  mind. 

When  the  original  Memoirs  came  to  be  examined,  which  Mr.  Sault 
pretended  to  have  received  from  a  divine  of  the  Church  of  England, 
they  were  found  to  be  in  Mr.  'SauW s  own  handwriting,  but  disguised. 
Mr.  Dunton  therefore  declared  his  conviction  that  it  was  a  forgery  of 
Mr.  Sault ;  and  that  he  had  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  the  imposture 
till  after  the  book  was  printed.  And  this  he  sets  down  as  the  first  of 
the  seven  articles  out  of  six  hundred,  which  he  heartily  wished  he  Had 
never  committed  to  the  press  :  and  advises  all  who  had  purchased  any 
of  them,  to  commit  them  to  the  fire  : — p.  159. 

I  wish  this  fact  to  be  known  to  all  religious  people,  and  particularly 
to  the  Methodists. 

Had  Mr.  Wesley  been  acquainted  with  John  Dunton's  account  of 
the  matter,  most  undoubtedly  he  never  would  have  given  the  Narrative 
of  the  Second  Spira  a  place  in  the  Arminian  Magazine. 

In  the  supplement  to  the  fifth  volume  there -is  a  letter  to  the  Athe- 
nian Society  from  Dean  Swift,  dated  Moor  Park,  February  14,  1691, 
accompanied  with  an  ode,  of  the  amazing  length  of  307  lines.  The 
high  sense  which  he  entertained  of  the  wJcnown  conductors  of  this  un- 
dertaking will  appear  from  the  two  last  verses : — 

Alas,  how  fleeting  and  how  vain 
Is  e'en  the  nobler  man,  oifr  learning,  and  our  wit  ! 

I  sigh  whene'er  I  think  of  it, 
As  at  the  closing  and  unhappy  scene 

Of  some  great,  king  and  conqueror's  death, 

When  the  sad  melancholy  muse 

Stays  but  to  catch  his  utmost  breath. 
I  grieve  this  noble  w<rrk,  so  happily  begun, 
•So  quickly  and  so  wonderfully  carried  on, 
Must  fall  at  last  to  interest,  folly,  and  abuse. 

There  is  a  noon  tide  in  pur  live?, 

Which  still  the  sooner  it  arrives, 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,   RECTOR  OT    EFWORTH.  57 

Although  we  boast  our  winter-sun  looks  bright, 
And  foolishly  are  glad  to  see  it  at  its  height, 
Yet  so  much  sooner  comes  the  long  and  gloomy  night 

No  conquest  ever  yet  begun, 
And  by  one  mighty  hero  carried  to  its  height, 
E'er  flourish'd  under  a  successor  or  a  son  ; 
It  lost  some  mighty  pieces,  through  all  hands  it  past, 
And  vanish'd  to  an  empty  title  in  the  last. 
For  when  the  animating  mind  is  fled, 
Which  nature  never  can  retain, 
Nor  e'er  call  back  again, 
The  body,  though  gigantic,  lies  all  cold  and  dtnd. 

And  thus  undoubtedly  'twill  fare, 
With  what  unhappy  men  shall  dare, 
To  be  successors  to  these  great  unknown, 
On  learning's  high  establish'd  throne. 
Censure,  and  pedantry,  and  pride, 
Numberless  nations  stretching  far  and  wide, 
Shall  (I  foresee  it)  soon  with  Gothic  swarms  come  forth 

From  ignorance's  universal  north, 

And  with  blind  rage  break  all  this  peaceful  government ; 
Yet  shall  these  traces  of  your  wit  remain 
Like  a  just  map,  to  tell  the  vast  extent 
Of  conquest  in  your  short  and  happy  reign ; 
And  to  all  future  mankind  show 
How  strange  a  paradox  is  true, 
That  men  who  lived  and  died  without  a  name 
Art  the  chief  heroes  in  the  sacred  list  of  fame. 

JONATHAN  SWIFT. 

I  cannot  exactly  tell  what  part  Mr.  Wesley  had  in  this  work  :  but  after 
carefully  examining  jive  of  the  original  volumes,  with  their  supplements, 
I- have  been  led  to  conclude  that  all  the  questions  in  divinity  and  an- 
cient ecclesiastical  history,  most  of  those  in  poetry,  with  many  of  those 
in  natural  philosophy,  were  answered  by  him.  The  mathematical 
questions  were,  I  suppose,  all  answered  by  Mr.  Sault. 

These  facts  account  for  the  way  and  means  by  which  Mr.  Wesley 
sustained  himself  both  in  the  university,  and  for  some  time  after  he  left 
it ;  probably  to  the  time  in  which  he  got  the  small  rectory  of  South 
Ormsby,  already  mentioned.  By  his  pen  and  genius  he  profited  him- 
self and  society  ;  and  had  he  not  written  too  fast,  and  too  much,  it  would 
not  be  difficult  to  prove  that  he  would  not  only  have  enriched,  but 
adorned,  all  the  ^>aths  of  literature  in  which  he  walked.  Of  this  wo 
shall  have  ample  evidences  when  we  come  to  examine  other  productions 
of  his  pen. 

It  may  be  just  necessary  to  inform  the  curious  reader  that  the  old 
Athenian  volumes  being  out  of  print,  and  becoming  very  scarce  and 
dear,  a  selection  of  the  most  valuable  questions  and  answers  was  printed 
in  three  volumes,  octavo,  under  the  title  of  the  Athenian  Oracle :  to 
these  was  afterward  added  a  fourth  volume.  The  abridgment,  as 
well  as  the  original,  must  have  had  a  considerable  sale,  as  the  copy 
before  me,  printed  iti  1727,  is  the  third  edition  of  this  work. 

No  reader  can  peruse  these  volumes  without  profit.  They  contain 
many  things  of  great  importance  and  value.  When  I  was  little  more 
than  a  child,  an  odd  volume  of  the  Athenian  Oracle,  lent  me  by  a  friend, 
was  a  source  of  improvement  and  delight ;  and  I  now  consult  it  with 

8 


58  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

double  interest,  knowing  the  well-nerved  hand  by  which  at  least  one- 
third  of  it  was  composed. 

Mr.  Wesley's  other  works  shall  be  all  examined  in  their  order.  We 
have  already  seen  that  Mr.  Wesley  had  embroiled  himself  with  the 
Dissenters  ;  partly  by  bis  separating  from  them,  and  partly  by  the  pub- 
lication of  a  letter  relative  to  their  mode  of  education  in  their  private 
academies.  Their  opposition  was  a  source  of  calamity  to  him  and  his 
family  for  several  years,  and  shall  be  noticed  in  its  chronological 
occurrence. 

The  life  of  a  learned  man  may  be  found  in  the  history  of  his  works. 
Mr.  Wesley's  pen  was  seldom  idle  ;  and  being  a  rapid  writer,  and  sel- 
dom waiting  to  polish  or  refine,  his  works  became  numerous.  His 
brother-in-law,  J.  Dunton,  said  "  he  used  to  write  two  hundred  couplets 
a  day  ;  which  were  too  many  by  two-thirds  to  be  well  furnished  with  all 
the  beauties  and  graces  of  that  art!"  and  to  this  opinion  every  judge  of 
poetry  must  subscribe. 

We  have  seen  him  at  college  in  1685,  issuing  his  juvenile  poems, 
under  the  title  of  Maggots ;  and  in- 1691,  &c,  engaged  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Dunton,  and  others,  in  the  Athenian  Mercury. 

In  1693  he  published  "  The  Life  of  our  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ ;  a  heroic  poem,  in  ten  books :  dedicated  to  her  most  sacred 
majesty,  (Queen  Mary;)  attemptedby  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  rector  of  South 
Ormsby,  in  the  county  of  Lincoln.  Each  book  illustrated  by  necessary 
notes,  explaining  all  the  more  difficult  matters  in  the  whole  history.  Also 
a  Prefatory  Discourse  concerning  Heroic  Poetry.  With  sixty  copper- 
plates." London,  printed  for  Charles  Harper,  &c,  1693,  fol. 

This  work  went  through  a  second  edition  in  1697,  "revised  and 
improved,  with  the  addition  of  a  large  map  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  a 
table  of  the  principal  matters."  The  plates,  though  anonymous,  are 
said  in  the  advertisement  to  be  done  "  by  the  celebrated  hand  of  W. 
Faithhorn."  The  work  is  preceded  by  commendatory  verses  from 
Nahum  Tate,  poet  laureate,  L.  Milbourne,  T.  Taylor,  W.  Pittis,  H. 
Cults,  and  P.  Motteaux. 

When  a  poet,  no  matter  of  what  abilities,  takes  for  the  subject  of  his 
verse  the  sayings  or  acts  of  the  Almighty,  as  recorded  in  Divine 
revelation,  he  must  of  necessity  fail,  speak  untruths,  and  sink  below 
himself.  Who  can  add  to  the  dignity,  importance,  or  majesty,  of  the 
words  of  God  by  any  poetical  clothing  I  The  attempt  to  do  it  is  almost 
impious  ;  and  in  the  execution  how  many  words  are  attributed  to  God 
which  he  never  spoke,  and  acts  which  he  never  did !  Even  the  prose 
writers  of  the  Life  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  have  all  failed, 
misrepresented  facts  and  sayings,  and  (undesignedly)  spoke  many 
falsities.  The  life  of  our  Lord  was  never  found,  arMfc  never  will  be 
found,  but  in  the  four  evangelists;  and  the  utmost  that  can  be  done 
in  this  way  is,  merely  to  harmonize  their  accounts.  That  as  a  theo- 
logical arid  poetical  production  Mr.  Wesley's  Life  of  Christ  has 
considerable  merit,  the  sale  of  two  editions  of  a  large  folio  volume,  in 
three  or  four  years,  is  ample  proof.  And  if  we  can  give  credit  to  the 
judgment  and  sincerity  of  his  poetical  recommenders,  the  work  has 
scarcely  its  fellow  !  The  poet  laureate  JV.  Tate,  praises  the  work  and 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  RECTOR   OF   EPWORTH.  59 

the  author  to  the  utmost  stretch  of  eulogium ;  and  seems  to  lay  his 
own  ground  work  of  the  version  of  the  Psalms  at  Mr.  Wesley's  feet, 
and  views  him  as  the  completer  of  the  task  which  Milton  left  unfinished! 
1  shall  extract  a  few  of  his  verses,  as  the  book  will  rarely  be  found 
in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  most  concerned  in  what  relates  to  this 
singular  family : — 

To  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  on  his  Divine  Poem  ofihe  Life  of  Chriat. 

As  when  some  prophet,  who  had  long  retir'd, 
Returns  from  solitude  with  rapture  nVd, 
With  full  credentials  made  securely  bold, 
To  list'ning  crowds  does  charmingly  unfold 
What  angels  hymn,  in  awful  visions  told  ; 
With  wond'rous  truths  surprising  every  breast, 
His  sacred  mission  is  by  all  confest : 
So  you,  great  bard,  who  lay  till  now  concealed, 
Compiling  what  your  heavenly  muse  reveal'd, 
No  sooner  quit  the  shade,  but  strike  our  eyes 
With  wonder,  and  our  minds  with  ecstacies.        *  ' 

E'en  we,  the  tribe  who  thought  ourselves  inspir'd, 

Like  glimmering  stars  in  night's  dull  reign  admir'd ; 

Like  stars,  a  numerous  but  a.  feeble  host, 

Are  gladly  in  your  morning  lustre  lost. 

When  we,  (and  few  have  been  so  well  inclin'd,) 

In  songs  attempted  to  instruct  mankind, 

From  nature's  law  we  all  our  precepts  drew, 

And  e'en  her  sanctions  oft  perverted  too ; 

Your  sacred  muse  does  revelation  trace, 

And  nature  is  by  you  improv'd  to  grace. 

What  just  encomiums,  sir,  must  you  receive, 
Who  wit  and  piety  together  weave. 
No  altar  your  oblation  can  refuse, 
Who  to  the  temple  bring  a  spotless  muse  : 
You  with  fresh  laurels  from  Parnassus  borne, 
Plant  Ziori's  hill,  and  Salem's  lowers  adorn ; 
You  break  the  charms,  and  from  profane  retreats 
Restore  the  muses  to  their  native  seats. 
Our  leading  Moses*  did  this  task  pursue, 
And  liv'd  to  have  the  Holy  Land  in  view ; 
Wilh  vig'rous  youth  to  finish  the  success, 
Like  Joshua,  you  succeed,  and  all  possess. 

Here  pious  souls,  what  they  did  long  desire, 
Possess  their  dear  Redeemer's  Life  entire : 
Here,  with  whole  Paradise  Regained  they  meet, 
And  Milton's  noble  work  is  NOW  complete. 

The  rest  of  the  poem  is  in  the  same  style  of  eulogium  ;  and  I  have 
quoted  so  much  to  show  what  was  thought  of  the  Life  of  Christ  by  no 
mean  judges,  when  it  first  appeared.  Posterity  has  not  been  so  partial 
to  the  bard  of  Ernoorlh. 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Pope  had  such  a  despicable  opinion  of  this  poem 
and  the  other  poetical  works  of  Mr.  Wesley,  that  in  one  of  the  earlier 
editions  of  the  Dunciad  he  honoured  him  with  a  niche  in  the  temple  of 
the  "Mighty  Mother,"  (Dulness.)  He  was  placed  by  the  side  of  a 
respectable  companion,  Dr.  Watts  : — 

*  Mr.  John  Milton. 


60  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"Now  all  the  suffering  brotherhood  retire, 
And  'scape  the  martyrdom  of  jakes  and  fire: 
A  Gothic  library  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
Well  purg'd,  and  worthy  Wesley,  Watts,  and  Brome." 

It  is  a  fact  that  in  no  edition  published  by  Mr.  Pope  did  these  names 
ever  occur.  In  one  surreptitious  edition  they  were  printed  thus, 
W — 1 — y  W — s  in  book  i,  1.  126.  But  in  the  genuine  editions  of  that 
work  the  line  stood  thus,  as  it  does  at  present : — 

M  Well  purg'd,  and  worthy  Withers,  GLuarles,  and  Blome." 

And  this,  in  the  London  edition  of  1729,  is  said  to  be  the  line  as  it 
stood  in  the  original. 

That  Mr.  Pope  had  too  high  an  opinion  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  to 
make  such  a  dishonourable  insertion  of  his  name  in  the  Dunciad  there 
can  be  no  doubt :  he  revered  him  for  his  piety,  learning,  and  industry. 
There  was  even  an  intimacy  between  them ;  and  Mr.  Pope  had  such 
a  high  opinion  of  his  learning  and  moral  worth  that  he  earnestly 
endeavoured  to  serve  him.  This  will  be  particularly  evident  from  a 
letter  which  he  wrote  to  Dean  Swift,  entreating  him  to  use  his  influence 
with  the  clergy  of  his  acquaintance  to  get  subscriptions  for  Mr.  Wesley's 
Dissertations  on  the  Book  of  Job.  I  shall  give  an  extract  of  this  epistle, 
which  cannot  fail  to  set  the  matter  in  the  clearest  point  of  view. 

"This  is  a  letter  extraordinary,  to  do  and  to  say  nothing,  but 

to  recommend  to  you  (as  a  clergyman  and  a  charitable  one)  a  pious 
and  a  good  work,  and  for  a  good  and  honest  man.  Moreover  he  is 
about  seventy,  and  poor,  which  you  might  think  included  in  the  word 
honest.  I  shall  think  it  a  kindness  done  to  myself  if  you  can  propagate 
Mr.  Wesley's  subscription  for  his  Commentary  on  Job,  among  your 
divines,  (bishops  excepted,  of  whom  there  is  no  hope,)  and  among  such 
as  are  believers  or  readers  of  the  Scriptures.  Even  the  curious  may  find 
something  to  please  them,  if  they  scorn  to  be  edified.  It  has  been  the 
labour  of  eight  years  of  this  learned  man's  life ;  I  call  him  what  he 
is,  a  learned  man;  and  I  engage  you  will  approve  his  prose  more  than 
you  formerly  did  his  poetry.  Lord  Bolingbroke  is  a  favourer  of  it,  and 
allows  you  to  do  your  best  to  serve  an  old  tory,  and  a  sufferer  for  the 
Church  of  England,  though  you  are  a  whig  as  I  am."  April  12,  1730. 

In  the  above  words,  "  I  engage  you  will  approve  his  prose  more 
than  you  formerly  did  his  poetry,"  Mr.  Pope  refers  to  Dean  Swift's 
Battle  of  the  Books,  in  which  are  these  words  :— "  Then  Homer  slew 
Sam.  Wesley  with  a  kick  of  his  horse's  heel."  But  this  can  be  no 
discredit  to  Mr.  Wesley ;  for  many  of  our  best  English  writers  have 
been  mentioned  with  disrespect  in  that  work.  Mr.  Wesley  spoke  of 
his  own  performance  with  much  modesty : — "  The  cuts  are  good,  the 
notes  pretty  good,  the  verses  so  so."  And  of  it  his  eldest  son  Samuel 
spoke  with  sober  commendation  : — 

Whate'er  his  strains,  still  glorious  was  his  end, 
Faith  to  assert,  and  virtue  to  defend. 
He  sung  how  God  the  Saviour  deigned  to  expire,* 
With  "V  ida's  piety,  though  not  his  fire ; 
Deduced  his  Maker's  praise  from  page  to  page, 
Through  the  long  annals  of  tho  sacred  page.f 
*  Life  of  Christ.  f  History  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,   RECTOR  OF   EFWORTH.  61 

\Vhat  was  of  most  consequence  to  him,  it  was  highly  approved  of 
by  Quten  Mary,  to  whom  it  was  dedicated ;  who  in  the  same  year 
conferred  on  him  the  living  of  Epworth  in  Lincolnshire,  which  he  says 
was  "  proffered  and  given,  as  well  as  that  of  Wroote  afterward,  without 
his  ever  having  solicited  any  person ;  without  his  ever  expecting,  or 
even  once  thinking,  of  such  a  favour." — Answer  to  Palmer,  p.  3. 
^.nd  speaking  again  on  the  same  subject,  in  defence  of  his  poem,  he 
adds,  "  I  can  assure  him  I  agree  so  far  with  those  best  judges  he 
mentions,  that  I  know  it  is  very  faulty :  but  whether  it  be  in  itself  so 
absolutely  contemptible  as  he  represents  it,  I  desire  may  be  left  to  more 
impartial  judges.  All  I  can  say  is,  it  was  the  best  I  had.  I  ran  as 
the  peasant  did,  with  my  hands  full  of  water,  and  offered  it  to  my  prince, 
because  I  had  no  better  present ;  and  if  it  was  not  so  clear  as  it  should 
have  been,  I  hope  that  the  haste  will  in  some  measure  excuse  it. 
Though  there  may  be  some  parts  of  that  poem,  of  which  I  hope  I  might 
say  without  vanity,  neither  myself  nor  my  country  have  reason  to  be 
ashamed,  yet  I  am  as  ready  to  acknowledge,  as  he  and  his  friends  are 
to  assert,  that  the  favours  which  our  late  blessed  queen  was  pleased  to 
bestow  on  me  after  she  had  read  my  book  were  as  far  beyond  my 
expectation  as  my  desert.  They  will  not  however  envy  me  the  honour 
of  having  scattered  a  few  verses,  and  more  tears,  over  her  grave." — 
Ib.  p.  56. 

In  1695  he  published  Elegies  on  Queen  Mary,  and  on  Archbishop 
Tillotson,  folio,  of  which  I  can  say  nothing,  as  1  have  not  seen  them. 

In  1698  he  published  A  Sermon  preached  before  the  Society  for  the 
Reformation  of  Manners,  octavo.  This  also  I  have  not  seen. 

The  next  in  point  of  time  is,  "  The  Pious  Communicant  rightly 
prepared ;  or  a  Discourse  concerning  the  Blessed  Sacrament :  wherein 
the  nature  of  it  is  described,  our  obligation  to  frequent  communion 
enforced,  and  directions  given  for  due  preparation  for  it,  behaviour  at 
and  after  it,  and  profiting  by  it.  With  prayers  and  hymns  suited  to  the 
several  parts  of  that  holy  office.  To  which  is  added,  a  short  Discourse 
of  Baptism.  By  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  A.  M.  chaplain  to  the  most 
honourable  JOHN  Lord  Marquis  of  Normanby,  and  rector  of  Epworth, 
in  the  diocess  of  Lincoln."  London,  printed  for  Charles  Harper, 
1700,  duodecimo,  upward  of  two  hundred  pages. 

The  copy  before  me  unfortunately  wants  the  double  Appendix,  (nor 
does  it  appear  ever  to  have  had  it ;)  of  which  in  the  preface  he  speaks 
thus : — "  The  former  relating  to  our  religious  societies,  whose  rules 
und  orders  have  been  published  and  defended  by  Dr.  Woodward  in  his 
late  book  upon  the  subject,  and  my  lord  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells  in 
the  Life  of  Dr.  Horneck.  Their  whole  design  appeared  to  me  to  be  so 
highly  serviceable  to  Christianity,  that  I  could  not  but  take  this  oppor- 
tunity to  recommend  them ;  and  the  latter  (appendix)  which  relates  to 
baptism,  will  be  granted  not  unnecessary,  when  several  (I  hope)  well- 
meaning  persons,  especially  in  those  parts  where  I  live,  are  unsatisfied 
about  it.  Likewise,  I  have  added  the  great  Hallel  or  paschal  hymn, 
which  was  usually  sung  by  the  Jews  at  their  passover,  and  by  our 
Saviour  and  his  apostles  at  the  institution  of  this  sacrament." 

In  this  work  I  find  very  little  to  praise  beside  the  piotu  intention. 


62  OF  MK.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

It  has  the  general  character,  and  indeed  the  faults,  of  those  works 
generally  termed  The  Week's  Preparation  before  the  Sacrament,  which 
are  all  infinitely  below  what  any  one  may  find  in  the  communion  service, 
in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  The  arguments  in  this  work  are 
neither  happily  chosen,  nor  conclusive,  and  the  objections  not  well 
answered.  It  is  the  most  imperfect  of  all  the  literary  works  of  the 
rector  of  Epworth  which  I  have  seen. 

The  great  Hallel  of  which  Mr.  Wesley  speaks  had  its  name  from 
the  word  m^n  halleluyah,  praise  ye  Jehovah  ;  and  consisted  of  the 
following  Psalms,  cxiii,  cxiv,  cxv,  cxvi,  cxvii,  and  cxviii.  These 
six  psalms  were  always  sung  at  every  paschal  solemnity ;  and  this 
great  Hallel  they  sung  on  account  of  the  five  great  benefits  referred  to 
in  it.  1.  The  exodus  from  Egypt,  Psa.  cxiv,  1.  When  Israel  went 
out  of  Egypt,  &c.  2.  The  miraculous  division  of  the  Red  Sea,  ver.  3. 
The  sea  saw  it  and  fled.  3.  The  promulgation  of  the  law,  ver.  4. 
The  mountains  skipped  like  rams.  4.  The  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
Psa.  cxvi.  /  will  walk  before  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living. 
5.  The  passion  of  the  Messiah,  Psa.  cxv,  1.  Not  unto  us,  0  Lord, 
not  unto  us,  &c. 

Why  should  not  these  psalms  be  said  or  sung  at  every  sacramental 
occasion  1  Is  not  the  example  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles  a  sufficient 
warrant?  And  would  not  this  circumstance  bring  us  a  little  nearer  to 
the  primitive  form  of  celebration  ?  The  psalms  themselves  are  highly 
excellent;  and  many  parts  of  them  peculiarly  appropriate. 

In  the  year  1704  he  published  "  The  History  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  attempted  in  verse,  and  adorned  with  three  hundred  and 
thirty  sculptures,  engraved  by  J.  Sturt."  3  vols.  duodecimo.  1704. 

This  is  a  useful  work  for  young  persons,  as  the  rhyme  may  assist 
the  memory,  particularly  in  chronological  details.  Some  years  ago 
it  was  reprinted  in  Manchester,  but  without  the  plates. 

Some  time  in  1693  his  Letter,  already  mentioned,  concerning  the 
Education  of  the  Dissenters  in  their  private  Academies,  was  printed ; 
but  without  his  consent  or  knowledge,  nearly  ten  years  after  it  had 
been  written,  to  oblige  a  particular  friend. 

This  Letter  gave  the  Dissenters  great  offence ;  and  it  was  soon 
answered  anonymously  in  a  pamphlet  intituled  A  Defence  of  the  Dis- 
senters' Education.  To  answer  this  pamphlet,  in  which  he  was  severely 
handled,  and  to  defend  his  original  Letter,  Mr.  Wesley  published  a 
pamphlet  intituled  "  A  Defence  of  a  Letter  concerning  the  Education 
of  Dissenters  in  their  private  Academies ;  with  a  more  full  and  satisfac- 
tory account  of  the  same,  and  of  their  morals  and  behaviour  toward  the 
Church  of  England  :  being  an  answer  to  the  Defence  oj  the  Dissenters' 
Education.  By  Samuel  Wesley ;"  with  this  remarkable  motto, — 

Noli  irrtiare  enthrones ! 
"The  Kirk's  a  vixen ;  don't  anger  her." 

London,  quarto,  1704,  pp.  64. 

This  publication,  which  I  have  several  times  had  occasion  to  quote, 
only  served  to  widen  the  breach  ;  for  Mr.  Palmer,  who  appears  to  have 
been  the  aqonymous  author  of  the  Defence  of  the  Dissenters'  Education, 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  63 

soon  published  what  he  termed  "  A  Vindication  of  (he  learning,  loyalty, 
morals,  and  most  Christian  behaviour,  of  the  Dissenters  toward  the 
Church  of  England."  A  man  of  Mr.  Wesley's  disposition  was  not 
likely  to  sit  quiet  under  the  sever  o  reflections  cast  on  him  by  Mr. 
Palmer  in  the  above  pamphlet. 

He  immediately  meditated  an  answ;  r  :  but  this  was  delayed  for  some 
time.  The  rage  of  party  took  advantage  of  his  narrow  circumstances, 
and  he  was  suddenly  thrown  into  Lincoln  castle  for  a  paltry  debt. 
This  was  petty  malice ;  and  he  amply  retorted  on  his  persecutors  in  a 
pamphlet  intituled  "  Jl  Reply  to  Mr.  Palmer's  Vindication  of  the 
learning,  loyalty,  morals,  and  most  Christian  behaviour  of  the  Dissenters 
toward  the  Church  of  England.  By  SAMUEL  WESLEY."  London, 
1707,  quarto,  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  pages  ;  with  a  motto  taken 
from  John  Fox,  and  one  from  De  Foe ;  the  latter  I  shall  transcribe  : — 

u  How  long  must  we  see  the  reproaches  of  our  Establishment,  and 
the  insults  of  the  laws,  and  be  bound  to  silence,  and  to  say  nothing  for 
peace'  sake  ?  How  long  must  their  false  prophets  and  dreamers  of 
dreams  abuse  us,  and  we  be  obliged  to  hold  our  peace?"  De  Foe's 
Review,  vol.  iii,  No.  43. 

This  work  appears  to  have  been  partly  written  in  Lincoln  castle,  as 
the  following  words  in  the  preface  seem  to  imply : — "  I  am  to  ask  his 
(Mr.  Palmer's)  pardon  for  the  delay  of  my  answer,  which  I  hope  he 
will  the  more  easily  grant,  because  he  is  not  ignorant  of  the  occasion. 
I  have  often  thought  of  his  kind  admonition  in  his  first  book,  p.  20, 
of  what  I  was  like  to  lose  by  the  Dissenters'  resentment  of  my  Letter,  &c. 
Some  people  have  an  untoward  faculty  of  keeping  their  words  with  the 
utmost  exactness  whenever  they  make  a  left-hand  promise  ;  and  there 
are  some  sort  of  debts  they'll  never  compound  for,  but  be  sure  to  pay 
them  to  the  uttermost  farthing. 

"I  shan't  trouble  him  (the  reader)  with  any  melancholy  stories  of 
the  treatment  I've  lately  met  with,  but  shall  refer  it  to  a  higher  tribunal 
than  that  of  any  earthly  judicature."  And  in  the  beginning  of  the 
ninth  chapter  of  the  work,  p.  144,  he  says,  "  I  am  now  come  to  JVIr. 
Palmer's  last  chapter,  which  I  wish  I  had  been  at  long  before ;  for  I 
must  confess  I  don't  admire  this  work  which  I  am  forced  to  in  my  own 
just  defence ;  and  think  if  I  were  at  liberty  I  could  employ  myself 
something  better."  And  in  p.  68,  "  Welcome  a  jayle  once  more, 
rather  than  take  their  dirty  road  to  preferment." 

As  this  matter  of  the  imprisonment  has  been  misunderstood,  if  not 
misrepresented,  I  shall  soon  lay  the  whole  account  before  the  reader. 

Whether  this  controversy  were  carried  on  any  farther  I  know  not : 
as  far  as  I  have  seen  it  I  must  own  I  have  received  no  edification  from  it. 
Mr.  Wesley  most  certainly  uses  great  dexterity  in  fencing  with  and 
foiling  his  adversary.  But  on  both  sides  party  spirit  has  a  superabun- 
dant prevalence.  Mr.  Wesley  was  ill-used  by  several  of  that  party, 
and  he  appears  too  often  to  attribute  the  unchristian  and  cruel  treatment 
he  received  from  them  as  the  work  of  the  whole  body ;  and  that  dissenting 
principles  must  necessarily  produce  such  wicked  effects.  Beside,  he 
was  an  unqualified  admirer  of  Charles  the  First,  considered  him  in  the 
fullest  sense  a  martyr,  and  was  often  intolerant  to  those  who  differed 


64  OF  MR.  WKSLEY'B  ANCESTORS. 

from  him  in  this  opinion.  He  exposed  the  Dissenters  ;  and  did  it  the 
more  effectually,  because,  being  bred  up  among  thein,  he  knew  their 
order,  discipline,  political  opinions,  &c.  But  he  always  gets  too  much 
into  generals  from  particulars,  and  charges  the  body  with  the  vices  of 
the  few. 

Their  mode  of  defence  was  not  calculated  to  soften  his  asperity,  or 
correct  his  misapprehension  ;  and  they  disgracefully  stooped  to  personal 
injuries  that  they  might  avenge  themselves  on  one  whom  they  considered 
a  detracter  of  the  brethren,  and  an  apostate  from  the  true  faith. 

The  same  subjects  canvassed  then  would  scarcely  admit  of  discussion 
now.  A  spirit  of  liberality  and  tolerance  now  exists,  and  is  happily  culti- 
vated, which  in  great  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  little  known. 
Through  the  mercy  of  God  the  nation  has  now  more  light  and  more 
religion ;  though  there  are  still  individuals  to  be  found  on  both  sides 
who,  had  they  the  power,  would  stir  up  old  feuds,  and  banish  sweet 
repose  from  the  hearts  and  houses  of  the  pious,  the  peaceable,  and  the 
loyal.  Neither  the  name  nor  peculiar  creed  of  Churchman  nor  .Dis- 
senter is  essential  to  salvation.  He  alone  deserves  the  title  of  Christian 
who  wishes  well  to  the  human  race,  and  labours  to  promote,  according 
to  his  power  and  influence,  the  best  interests  of  mankind.  No  man 
professing  godliness  should  forget  to  imitate  Him  who  maketh  his  sun 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  his  rain  on  the  just  and 
on  the  unjust. 

To  pursue  the  literary  life  of  Mr.  Wesley  any  farther  at  present 
would  take  us  too  far  out  of  the  direct  line  of  his  domestic  relations. 

While  Mr.  S.  Wesley  attended  his  curacy  in  London,  about  1690  or 
1691,  for  the  date  is  not  exactly  known,  he  contracted  an  acquaintance, 
which  terminated  in  marriage,  with  Miss  Susanna  Annesley,  youngest 
daughter  of  Samuel  Annesley,  LL.  D.,  an  eminent  Nonconformist 
divine,  nobly  related ;  for  he  and  Arthur  Annesley,  Earl  of  Anglesy 
and  Lord  Privy  Seal  to  Charles  the  Second,  were  brothers'  children. 
The  excellence  of  Miss  Annesley's  mind  was  equal  to  the  eminence  of 
her  birth  :  but  her  history  is  too  important  to  be  included  even  in  that 
of  her  husband,  and  requires  a  separate  place.  She  was  such  a  help- 
mate as  Mr.  Wesley  required  ;  and  to  her,  under  God,  the  great  emi- 
nence of  the  subsequent  Wesley  family  is  to  be  attributed.  They  had 
nineteen  children,  of  whom  only  their  eldest  son  Samuel  appears  to 
have  been  born  previously  to  their  removal  to  South  Ormsby,  in  Lin- 
colnshire, which  was  about  the  year  1693. 

Mr.  Wesley  began  the  world  under  many  disadvantages :  he  had 
himself  no  property.  And  Dr.  Annesley's  family  was  probably  much 
reduced,  so  that  he  could  give  little  with  any  of  his  daughters.  Eliza- 
beth had  married  John  Dunton,  so  often  already  mentioned.  His 
eccentricities  were  such  as  to  bring  him  into  frequent  embarrassments. 
What  help  his  father-in-law's  family  could  afford  him  I  suppose  he 
had ;  and  beside  this  he  had  borrowed  considerably  from  Mr.  Wesley, 
so  that  when  he  was  thrown  into  prison  for  debt  by  others,  Mr.  Wesley, 
he  acknowledges,  was  his  chief  creditor ;  which  debt  he  never  repaid. 
And  although  Dunton  was,  at  Mr.  Wesley's  first  setting  out  in  the 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  65 

world,  one  of  his  principal  friends,  yet  through  his  generosity  in  return 
he  suffered  much  in  his  circumstances. 

From  the  year  1693  to  1700  he  met  with  various  misfortunes  and 
trials.  He  had,  it  is  true,  expectations  of  preferment;  and  had 
Queen  Mary  lived,  he  would  certainly  have  risen  in  the  Church,  as 
it  appears  she  had  firmly  purposed. 

For  a  time  he  had  the  friendship  of  the  marquis  of  Normanby,  after- 
ward duke  of  Buckingham,  who  made  him  his  chaplain,  and  is  said  to 
have  recommended  him  for  an  Irish  bishopric.  The  duke  of  Marlbo- 
rough  was  also  his  friend  ;  and  for  his  poem  on  Tht  Fate  of  Europe 
gave  him  the  chaplaincy  of  Colonel  LepelPs  regiment:  but  the  Dissent- 
ers, his  inflexible  enemies,  had  interest  enough  at  court,  and  with  the 
leading  men  of  the  nation,  to  prevent  his  preferment,  and  deprive  him 
of  the  chaplaincies  which  he  had  honestly  obtained. 

In  the  midst  of  all  his  troubles  he  had  an  invariable  friend  in  the 
justly  celebrated  Dr.  John  Sharp,  archbishop  of  York,  and  grand- 
father to  the  late  Granville  Sha)-j),  Esq.,  the  first  man  whose  call 
awakened  the  drowsy  and  guilty  British  nation  to  the  wrongs  of  Africa. 

The  archbishop  acted  to  Mr.  Wesley  the  part  of  a  most  tender 
father  and  beneficent  patron.  The  latter  frequently  poured  his 
complaints  into  his  bosom  ;  and  they  were  received  with  tenderness 
and  affectionate  commiseration :  and  the  bounty  of  the  archbishop 
of  York  was  frequently  poured  on  the  necessities  of  the  distressed 
rector  of  Epworth.  Of  these  benefits  Mr.  Wesley  had  a  due  and  deep 
sense  ;  and  his  manly  gratitude  kept  pace  with  his  obligations. 

By  the  kindness  of  J\?Iiss  Sharp,  the  only  surviving  branch  of  this 
ancient  and  very  eminent  family,  I  have  been  put  in  possession  of 
letters  written  by  Mr.  Wesley  to  the  archbishop  from  the  year 
1700  to  1707,  which  fill  up  a  considerable  gap  in  his  history,  and 
afford  a  number  of  curious  particulars,  which  have  never  been  before 
the  public.  These  come  properly  in  in  this  place ;  and  from  the 
first  we  shall  see  the  difficulties  with  which  this  good  man  had  to 
struggle,  and  the  cause  of  his  consequent  embarrassments. 

"  For  the  most  Rev.  Father  in  God,  the  Lord  Archbishop,  of  York, 
at  Bishop  Thorp. 

"  MY  LORD, — I  have  lived  on  the  thoughts  of  your  grace's  gene- 
rous offer  ever  since  I  was  at  Bishop  Thorp ;  and  the  hope  I  have  of 
seeing  some  end,  or  at  least  mitigation,  of  my  trouble  makes  me 
pass  through  them  with  much  more  ease  than  I  should  otherwise  have 
done.  I  can  now  make  a  shift  to  be  dunned  with  some  patience  ;  and 
to  be  affronted,  because  I  want  the  virtue  of  riches,  by  those  who 
scarce  think  there  is  any  other  virtue. 

"  I  must  own  I  was  ashamed,  when  at  Bishop  TJiorp  to  confess 
that  I  was  three  hundred  pounds  in  debt,  when  I  have  a  living  of 
which  I  have  made  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum,  though  I  could 
hardly  let  it  now  for  eightscore. 

"  I  doubt  not  but  one  reason  of  my  being  sunk  so  far  is,  my  not 
understanding  worldly  affairs  ;  and  my  aversion  to  law,  which  my 
people  have  always  known  but  too  well.  But  I  think  I  can  give  a 
tolerable  account  of  my  affairs,  and  satisfy  any  equal  judge  that  a 

9 


66  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

better  husband  than  myself  might  have  been  in  debt,  though  perhaps 
not  so  deeply,  had  he  been  in  the  same  circumstances,  and  met  with 
the  same  misfortunes. 

"  'Twill  be  no  great  wonder  that  when  I  had  but  fifty  pounds  perannum 
for  six  or  seven  years  together,  nothing  to  begin  the  world  with,  one  child 
at  least  per  annum,  and  my  wife  sick  for  half  that  time,  that  I  should  run 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  behind  hand  ;  especially  when  about  a 
hundred  of  it  had  been  expended  in  goods  without  doors  and  within. 

"  When  I  had  the  rectory  of  Epworth  given  me,  my  lord  of  Szt- 
rum  was  so  generous  as  to  pass  his  word  to  his  goldsmith,  for  one 
hundred  pounds,  which  I  borrowed  of  him.  It  cost  me  very  little  less 
than  fifty  pounds  of  this  in  my  journey  to  London,  and  getting  into  my 
living,  for  the  broad  seal,  &c.  And  with  the  other  fifty  pounds,  I 
stopped  the  mouths  of  my  most  importunate  creditors. 

"  When  I  removed  to  Epworth  I  was  forced  to  take  up  fifty 
pounds  more  for  setting  up  a  little  husbandry  when  I  took  the  tithes 
into  my  own  hand,  and  buying  some  part  of  what  was  necessary 
toward  furnishing  my  house,  which  was  larger,  as  well  as  my  family, 
than  what  I  had  on  the  other  side  the  county. 

"  The  next  year  my  barn  fell ;  which  cost  me  forty  pounds  in 
rebuilding,  (thanks.to  your  grace  for  part  of  it;)  and  having  an  aged 
mother  [this  was  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  John  Wesley  of  New  Hall,  of 
whom  see  before,]  who  must  have  gone  to  prison  if  I  had  not  assisted 
her,  she  cost  me  upward  of  forty  pounds  more,  which  obliged  me  to 
take  up  another  fifty  pounds.  I  have  had  but  three  children  born  since 
I  came  hither,  about  three  years  since  :  but  another  coming,  and  my 
wife  incapable  of  any  business  in  my  family,  as  she  has  been  for  almost 
a  quarter  of  a  year  ;  yet  we  have  but  one  maid-servant,  to  retrench  all 
possible  expenses. 

"  My  first  fruits  came  to  about  twenty-eight  pounds  ;  my  tenths  near 
three  pounds  per  annum.  I  pay  a  yearly  pension  of  three  pounds  out  of 
my  rectory  to  John  of  Jerusalem.  J\ly  taxes  came  to  upward  of  twenty 
pounds  per  annum :  but  they  are  now  retrenched  to  about  half.  My 
collection  to  the  poor  comes  to  five  pounds  per  annum :  beside  which 
they  have  lately  bestowed  an  apprentice  upon  me,  whom  I  suppose  I 
must  teach  to  beat  rime.  Ten  pounds  a  year  I  allow  my  mother  to  help 
to  keep  her  from  starving.  I  wish  I  could  give  as  good  an  account  for 
some  charities,  which  I  am  now  satisfied  have  been  imprudent,  consi- 
dering my  circumstances. 

"  Fifty  pounds  interest  and  principal  I  have  paid  my  lord  of  Sarum's 
goldsmith.  All  which  together  keeps  me  necessitous,  especially  since 
interest  money  begins  to  pinch  me  ;  and  I  am  always  called  on  for 
money  before  I  make  it,  and  must  buy  every  thing  at  the  worst  hand  ; 
whereas  could  I  be  so  happy  as  to  get  on  the  right  side  of  my  income, 
I  should  not  fear,  by  God's  help,  but  to  live  honestly  in  the  world,  and 
to  leave  a  little  to  my  children  after  me.  I  think,  as  'tis,  I  could  per- 
haps work  it  out  in  time,  in  half-a-dozen  or  half-a-score  yeais,  if  my 
heart  should  hold  so  long :  but  for  that  God's  will  be  done  !  Hum- 
bly asking  pardon  for  this  tedious  trouble,  I  am  your  grace's  moat 
obliged  and  most  humble  servant,  S.  WESLEY. 

"Epworth,  lOr  (.Dec.)  30,  1700." 


SAMUEL    WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  67 

There  are  a  few  things  in  this  letter  which  require  explanation,  and 
some  of  them  refer  to  certain  curious  facts  in  ecclesiastical  history. 

1.  Among  Mr.  Wesley's  expenses  we  find  getting  the  broad  seal 
was  one.  This  was  on  his  being  presented  to  the  rectory  of  Epworth  ; 
for  as  that  living  belongs  to  the  crown,  the  gift  to  him  required  the  broad 
seal  affixed  as  his  title  :  and  the  fees,  &c,  of  office  were  even  at  that 
time  considerable  ;  but  now  more  so,  as  in  addition  to  them  there  is  a 
heavy  stamp  duty. 

j  2.  He  mentions  removing  to  Epworth  from  the  other  side  of  the 
county.  This  was  from  South  Ormsby,  which  is  in  the  wapentake  of 
Ladbrough,  in  the'opposite  side  of  the  county  from  Epworth ;  and  about 
eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  Humber.  This  living  he  appears  to  have 
received  from  the  marquis  ofNormanby,  afterward  duke  of  Bucking- 
ham ;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  lost  it  we  have  already  seen. 

3.  He  speaks  of  his  aged  mother.    This  was  the  relict  of  his  father, 
John  Wesley,  some  time  vicar  of  Whitchurch,  in  Dorsetshire  ;  from 
which  he  was  ejected  by  the  cruel  Act  of  Uniformity.    Persecuted  and 
driven  about  from  place  to  place  during  his  life,  he  could  make  no  pro- 
vision for  his  family;  and  his  widow,  who  survived  him  at  least  forty 
years,  was  obliged  to  depend  on  fortuitous  charity  ;  and  in  her  latter 
days  especially,  on  the  little  help,  10/.  per  annum, yhich  she  received 
from  her  son  Samuel ;  who  according  to  the  above  account  was  in  very 
straitened  circumstances  himself. 

It  must  be  owned  that  Mr.  Wesley's  attachment  to  the  Church  must 
have  been  strong  indeed,  and  founded  on  conscientious  principles, 
when  he  clave  to  it  with  all  his  heart,  and  at  the  risk  of  all  he  possess- 
ed ;  while  he  had  continually  before  his  eyes  the  horrible  conse- 
quences of  those  cruel  laws,  and  relentless  High  Church  bigotry,  that 
deprived  his  parents  of  a  morsel  of  bread,  brought  his  father  to  an 
untimely  grave,  and  reduced  his  widowed  aged  mother  to  a  state  of  the 
most  abject  poverty. 

4.  He  tells  the  archbishop  that  his  first  fruits  came  to  28/.,  that  is, 
he  had  to  pay  28/.  in  lieu  of  the  first  fruits  ;  which  mean  the  profits  of 
all  spiritual  promotions  for  one  whole  year.     These  were  at  first  given 
to  the  Pope ;  but  were  taken  from  him  by  the  Statute  of  Coventry, 
anno  6  Hen.  IV.   A.  D.  1404,  and  annexed  to  the  crown  anno   25 
Hen.  VIII.  A.  D.  1533,  under  which  act  Mr.  Wesley  paid  them.    But 
they  were  given  from  the  crown  to  the  poor  clergy,  anno  2,  3,  .Inner, 
A.  D.   1703,  about  two  or  three  years  after  the  time  of  which  Mr. 
Wesleyhere  speaks ;  and  still  continue  to  be  appropriated  in  the  same  way. 

5.  His  tenths,  he  tells  us,  came  to  3/.  per  annum.     The  tenths  were 
a  "yearly  rent,  or  pension,  amounting  to  the  value  of  a  tenth  part  of  all 
the  revenues,  rents,  farms,  tithes,  offerings,  emoluments,  and  all  other 
profits,  as  well  spiritual  as  temporal,  belonging  to  any  archbishopric, 
bishopric,  parsonage,  vicarage,  or  other  benefice,  or  promotion  spi- 
ritual, to  be  yearly  paid  for  ever,  to  the  king."     These  also  had  been 
claimed  by  the  Pope :  but  were  annexed  to  the  crown  by  the  statute 
anno  26  Henry   VIII.    A.  D.   1534.     But  they  were  with  the  first 
fruits,  given  by  the  crown  to  augment  the  livings  of  the  poor  clergy,  by 
the  statute  anno  2,  3,  ^nna,  A.  D.  1703. 


68  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

6.  He  also  mentions  paying  a  pension  of  3/.  yearly  out  of  his  rectory 
to  John  of  Jerusalem.     This  was  the  Priory  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
to  which  the  lands  formerly  belonging  to  the  Knights  Templars  had 
been  given  by  the  statute  De  Juris  Templariorum,  made  anno  17  Ed- 
ward If.  A.  D.  1323,  when  the  above  order  was  suppressed  in  Eng- 
land.    The  whole  order  had  been  suppressed  by  Pope  Clement  V.  in  a 
general  council  at  Vienne,  A.  D.  1312.     At  the  suppression  of  the 
monasteries  all  the  possessions  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  in  England 
and  Ireland,  were  given  to  the  king,  by  the  statute  anno  32  Henry 
VIII.  A.  D.  1541.     What  therefore  each  Church,  &c,  paid  to  this 

order  was  after  this  paid  to  the  king  :  and  as  the  rectory  of  Epworth 
had  paid  to  the  value  of  3/.  to  that  house,  this  was  the  sum  which  the 
kings  of  England  continued  to  receive  from  that  rectory. 

7.  What  he  means  by  beating  rime,  unless  it  be  the  stalks  of  dried 
Jlax,  I  cannot  tell.     I  believe  rime  is  a  provincial  term  for  that  article. 

The  preceding  letter  had  made  a  strong  impression  on  the  mind  of 
the  archbishop  in  his  favour;  who,  willing  to  serve  him  in  every  possible 
way,  not  only  spoke  to  several  of  the  more  charitably  disposed  nobility 
in  his  behalf,  but  had  actually  endeavoured  to  get  a  brief  for  him,  and 
had  made  an  application  to  the  house  of  lords  to  this  effect.  The 
countess  of  Northampton,  to  whom  the  archbishop  had  mentioned  Mr. 
Wesley's  case,  had  generously  sent  him  20/.  For  these,  and  other 
favours  received  from  and  through  the  archbishop,  he  expresses  himself 
in  a  very  feeling  and  energetic  manner  in  the  following  letter ;  which, 
with  that  which  immediately  follows  it,  I  cannot  persuade  myself  to 
withhold  from  the  reader  : — 

"  Epworth,  May  14,  1701. 

"  MY  LORD, — In  the  first  place  I  do,  as  I  am  bound,  heartily  thank 
God  for  raising  me  so  great  and  generous  a  benefactor  as  your  grace, 
when  I  so  little  expected  or  deserved  it. 

"  And  then  return  my  poor  thanks  to  your  lordship  ;  though  but  a 
sorry  acknowledgment,  yet  all  I  have,  for  the  pains  and  trouble  you 
have  been  at  on  my  account.  I  most  humbly  thank  your  grace  that 
you  did  not  close  with  the  motion  which  you  mentioned  in  your  grace's 
first  letter;  for  I  should  rather  choose  to  remain  all  my  life  in  my 
present  circumstances  than  so  much  as  consent  that  your  lordship 
should  do  any  such  thing  :  nor  indeed  should  I  be  willing  on  my  own 
account  to  trouble  the  house  of  lords  in  the  method  proposed  ;  for  I 
believe  mine  would  be  the  first  instance  of  a  brief  for  losses  by  child- 
bearing,  that  ever  came  before  that  honourable  house. 

"  Had  your  grace  been  able  to  have  effected  nothing  for  me,  the 
generosity  and  goodness  had  been  the  same  ;  and  I  should  have  prayed 
for  as  great  a  heap  of  blessings  on  your  grace  and  your  family.  But 
I  can  do  no  more  now  I  have  such  considerable  assistance  by  your 
grace's  charitable  endeavours.  When  I  received  your  grace's  first 
letter  I  thanked  God  upon  my  knees  for't;  and  have  done  the  same 
I  believe  twenty  times  since  as  often  as  I  have  read  it ;  and  more  than 
once  for  the  other  which  I  received  but  yesterday. 

"  Certainly,  never  did  an  archbishop  of  England  write  in  such  a 
manner  to  an  Isle  poet :  but  it  is  peculiar  to  your  grace  to  oblige  so  as 


SAML'EL  WI8LEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  69 

none  beside  can  do  it.  I  know  your  grace  will  be  angry,  but  I  can't 
help  it :  truth  will  out,  though  in  a  plain  and  rough  dress ;  and  I  should 
sin  against  God,  if  I  now  neglected  to  make  all  the  poor  acknowledg- 
ments I  am  able." 

After  several  other  matters  of  a  more  private  nature,  he  mentions  the 
great  kindness  of  the  countess  of  Northampton;  and  says  he  must  divide 
what  she  has  given  him,  "  half  to  my  poor  mother,  with  whom  I  am 
now  above  a  year  behind  hand ;  the  other  ten  pounds  for  my  own  family. 
My  mother  will  wait  on  your  grace  for  her  ten  pounds :  she  knows 
not  the  particulars  of  my  circumstances,  which  I  keep  from  her  as  much 
as  I  can  that  they  may  not  trouble  her." 

The  following  letter  written  four  days  after  the  above  is  both  singular 
and  characteristic  : — 

"  Epworth,  May  18,  1701. 

"  MY  Lo|,p,— This  comes  as  a  rider  to  the  last,  by  the  same  post,  to 
bring  such  news  as  I  presume  will  not  be  unwelcome  to  a  person  who 
has  so  particular  a  concern  for  me.  Last  night  my  wife  brought  me  a 
few  children.  There  are  but  two  yet,  a  boy  and  a  girl,  and  I  think  they 
are  all  at  present :  we  have  had  four  in  two  years  and  a  day,  three  of 
which  are  living. 

*'  Never  came  any  thing  more  like  a  gift  from  heaven  than  what  the 
countess  of  Northampton  sent  by  your  lordship's  charitable  offices. 
Wednesday  evening  my  wife  and  I  clubbed  and  joined  stocks,  which 
came  but  to  six  shillings,  to  send  for  coals.  Thursday  morning  I 
received  the  ten  pounds ;  and  at  night  my  wife  was  delivered.  Glory 
be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  goodness  ! 

"  I  am  your  grace's  most  obliged  and  most  humble  servant, 

"S.  WESLEY." 

About  this  time,  1701,  a  remarkable  anecdote  occurs  in  the  life  of 
the  rector  of  Epworth.  I  shall  give  it  in  the  words  of  his  son,  Mr.  John 
Wesley,  as  I  had  it  from  himself. 

"  Were  I,"  said  he,  "  to  write  my  own  life,  I  should  begin  it  before  I 
was  born,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  mentioning  a  disagreement  between 
my  father  and  mother.  «  Sukey,'  said  my  father  to  my  mother,  one 
day  after  family  prayer, '  why  did  you  not  say  amen  this  morning  to  the 
prayer  for  the  king  1'  '  Because,'  said  she, '  I  do  not  believe  the  prince 
of  Orange  to  be  king.'  *  If  that  be  the  case,'  said  he,  « you  and  I  must 
part ;  for  if  we  have  two  kings,  we  must  have  tiro  beds.'  My  mother 
was  inflexible.  My  father  went  immediately  to  his  study ;  and,  after 
spending  some  time  with  himself,  set  out  for  London ;  where  being 
convocation  man  for  the  diocess  of  Lincoln,  he  remained  without  visit- 
ing his  own  house  for  the  remainder  of  the  year.  On  March  8th,  in  the 
following  year,  1702,  King  William  died ;  and  as  both  my  father  and 
mother  were  agreed  as  to  the  legitimacy  of  Queen  Jlnne's  title,  the  cause 
of  their  misunderstanding  ceased  ;  my  father  returned  to  Epworth,  and 
conjugul  harmony  was  restored." 

Mr.  Wesley  observes,  that  his  father  was  convocation  man  that  year. 
To  the  generality  of  readers  this  word  requires  explanation. 

Convocation,  in  our  Church  history,  signifies  an  as$embly  of  tk« 


70  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

clergy  for  a  consultation  of  matters  ecclesiastical,  m  time  of  parlia- 
ment. And  as  the  parliament  consists  of  two  distinct  houses,  so  does 
this  :  the  one  called  the  upper  house,  where  the  archbishops  and  hishops 
sit  severally  by  themselves ;  the  other  the  lower  house,  where  all  the 
rest  of  the  clergy  are  represented  by  their  deputies  or  proctors,  consist- 
ing of  all  the  deans  and  archdeacons  ;  of  one  proctor  for  every  chapter, 
and  two  for  the  clergy  of  every  diocess ;  in  all  one  hundred  and  forty- 
three  divines,  viz.  twenty-two  deans,  fifty-three  archdeacons,  twenty- 
four  prebendaries,  and  forty-four  proctors  of  the  diocesan  clergy.  The 
convocation  is  summoned  by  the  king's  writ  directed  to  the  archbishop 
of  each  province,  requiring  him  to  summon  all  bishops,  deans,  arch- 
deacons, &c.  In  this  convocation  the  clergy  exercise  jurisdiction  for 
the  Church,  in  making  of  canons :  but  these  must  have  the  king's  assent. 
And  they  have  the  power  of  examining  and  censuring  all  heretical  and 
schismatical  books  and  persons.  But  an  appeal  lies  to  the  king  in 
chancery,  or  to  his  delegates ;  and  the  whole  powers  are  limited  by 
statute  25  Henry  VIII.  cap.  19. 

The  clergy  in  their  attendance  on  the  convocation  have  the  same 
privileges  as  members  of  the  house  of  commons,  in  freedom  from 
arrest. 

Mr.  Wesley  attended  these  convocations  for  three  years,  at  the 
expense  to  himself  of  fifty  pounds  per  annum.  It  appears  that  he 
might  have  avoided  this  expense,  as  he  was  censured  for  taking  this 
office  upon  him,  which  ill  accorded  with  the  narrowness  of  his  domes- 
tic circumstances. 

I  have  already  observed  in  the  account  given  of  Mr.  John  Wesley 
of  Whitchurch,  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  father,  that  every  genuine  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel  considers  himself  a  missionary ;  and  that  when  he 
receives  his  commission  from  the  Head  of  the  Church,  he  knows  that 
it  in  effect  says,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.  About  this  time  Mr.  Wesley  appears  to  have  had  his  mind 
seriously  impressed  with  the  miserable  state  of  the  Heathen ;  and  with 
a  strong  desire  to  go  to  them,  and  proclaim  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  He  had  mentioned  his  desire  in  a  general  way  to  Archbishop 
Sharp ;  and  given  him  some  hints  concerning  proposals  which  he  had 
made,  probably  to  the  society  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity  in 
foreign  parts,  and  to  some  members  of  the  administration. 

It  appears  that  the  archbishop  had  desired  an  account  of  the  whole 
scheme ;  and  he  sent  him  the  following  paper,  which  is  unfortunately 
without  a  date  ;  but  is  in  his  own  hand  writing,  and  is  subscribed  by  the 
archbishop  : — 

"  The  scheme  I  had  laid,  if  I  went  to  the  East  Indies,  and  which  by 
God's  grace  I  shall  yet  prosecute,  if  I  go  thither,  and  am  enabled  to  do 
it,  was  not  confined  to  one  place  or  nation,  but  aimed  at  a  more  general 
service  to  Christianity. 

"  My  design  consisted  of  three  parts.  The  first  relating  to  our  own 
people,  the  native  English  and  their  subjects  ;  which  I  am  told  at  one 
of  our  colonies  are  numerous  ;  the  second  to  other  Christian  Churcheg, 
whether  out  of  the  Roman  communion,  or  members  of  it ;  the  third  to 
the  Heathen. 


SAMUEL   WESLET,   RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  71 

"  1 .  As  to  ottr  own.  I  would  make  a  particular  inquiry  into  the  state 
of  Christianity  in  all  our  factories  and  settlements  from  St.  Helena  to 
the  farther  eastern  countries ;  travelling  where  I  could  myself  either  by 
land  or  sea ;  and  where  that  could  not  be  done,  fixing  a  correspond- 
ence ;  which  I  should  have  the  convenience  of  doing  from  Surat,  it 
being  a  mart  for  so  many  nations.  I  would  inquire  into  the  number  of 
our  people,  their  morals,  and  their  ministers.  It  should  be  my  faithful 
endeavour  to  revive  the  spirit  of  Christianity  among  them  by  spread- 
ing good  books,  bringing  them  to  catechising,  or  any  other  means,  as  I 
should  be  directed  from  hence,  or  as  God  should  enable  me. 

2.  As  to  other  Christian  Churches.  First,  those  who  are  of  the 
Roman  communion.  I  would  endeavour  to  fix  a  correspondence  with 
the  Church  of  Abyssinia ;  or,  if  it  was  thought  fit  by  my  superiors,  even 
to  try  if  I  could  pierce  into  that  country  myself.  However,  in  the  second 
place,  I  could  personally  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  poor  Christians  of 
St.  Thomas,  who  are  scattered  over  the  Indies  ;  and  settle  a  corres- 
pondence between  them  and  the  Church  of  England. 

"  As  to  the  Romanists,  I  might  probably  light  on  some  opportunity 
to  convey  some  of  our  books  among  them,  translated  into  the  lan- 
guages of  the  countries  where  they  are ;  and  even  as  far  as  China, 
(where  we  have  a  considerable  factory,)  whereby  the  Jesuits'  half  con- 
verts might  be  better  instructed  in  the  principles  of  our  religion,  or  made 
more  than  almost  Christians. 

**  3.  For  the  Gentoos.  I  would  see  if  I  could  learn  the  Hindostan 
language  ;  and  when  I  once  got  master  of  their  notions,  and  way  of 
reasoning,  endeavour  to  bring  over  some  of  their  Bromines  or  Bannians, 
and  common  people,  to  the  Christian  religion ;  the  government,  I  sup- 
pose, being  not  very  strict  as  to  those  matters. 

"  I  know  I  am  not  sufficient  for  the  least  of  these  designs :  much  less 
for  all  together.  But  as  'twould  be  well  worth  dying  for  to  make  some 
progress  in  any  of  'em,  so  I  would  expect  the  same  assistance  as  to  kind, 
though  not  to  degree,  which  was  granted  of  old  to  the  first  planters  of 
the  Gospel.  Nor  would  I  neglect,  but  humbly  and  thankfully  receive, 
any  instructions  from  my  superiors  or  others,  my  acquaintance  and  cor- 
respondents both  here  and  in  the  Indies,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  end 
of  my  mission. 

"  This  seems  to  be  a  different  design  from  settling  all  together  at 
some  one  of  our  particular  factories,  all  of  which  the  East  India  Com- 
pany are  to  provide  for.  But  whether  it  deserves  encouragement  from 
the  corporation  must  be  left  to  their  piety  and  wisdom.  As  likewise 
whether  her  majesty  [Queen  Anne]  might  not  be  prevailed  upon  to 
encourage  by  her  royal  favour  a  design  of  this  nature ;  the  Freneh  king 
sending  so  many  missions  into  those  parts. 

"  However,  if  one  hundred  pounds  per  annum  might  be  allowed  me, 
and  forty  I  must  pay  my  curate  in  my  absence,  either  from  the  East 
India  Company  or  otherwhere,  I  should  be  ready  to  venture  my  life  on 
this  occasion,  provided  any  way  might  be  found  to  secure  a  subsistence 
for  my  family  in  case  of  my  decease  in  those  countries." 

The  event  proves  that  Mr.  Wesley's  plan  was  not  adopted,  at  least 
as  far  as  he  himself  was  personally  concerned  in  it :  but  perhaps  some 


72  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

of  the  subsequent  operations  of  the  society  for  promoting  Christian 
knowledge  in  the  east  were  not  altogether  unindebted  to  the  hint  thrown 
out  in  this  paper. 

The  plan  was  such  as  the  British  Church  and  government  might 
have  easily  put  into  execution :  and  for  personal  courage,  spirit,  and 
missionary  zeal,  probably  a  fitter  instrument  than  Samuel  Wesley  could 
not  then  have  been  readily  found.  One  hundred  pounds  for  himself, 
and  forty  for  a  curate,  was  a  very  moderate  request ;  and  he  no  doubt 
supposed  that  the  income  of  the  rectory  might  be  sufficient  to  support 
his  family  during  his  absence. 

The  same  spirit  that  would  have  carried  the  father  to  Abyssinia, 
India,  and  China,  afterward  carried  his  son  across  the  Atlantic  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  different  tribes  of  American  Indians  ;  and  has 
urged  his  sons  and  successors  in  the  ministry  to  carry  the  glad  tidings 
of  Christ  crucified  to  America,  the  Weal  India  Islands,  West  and  Soiith 
Africa,  the  Island  of  Ceylon,  and  the  Peninsula  of  India.  In  the 
Wesley  family  the  seeds  of  missionary  zeal  were  early  sown.  They 
vegetated  slowly :  but  are  now  producing  an  abundant  harvest  to  the 
glory  of  the  God  of  missionaries,  whose  salvation  shall  be  revealed  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Mr.  Wesley  not  having  got  on  the  right  side  of  his  income  as  yet, 
was  grievously  troubled  with  his  old  creditors,  some  of  whom  appear 
to  have  been  implacable  and  unmerciful ;  he  was  obliged  in  consequence 
to  take  a  journey  to  London,  to  endeavour  to  raise  some  money  among 
his  friends.  In  a  letter  to  the  archbishop,  dated  August  7,  1702,  he 
mentions  several  sums  which  he  received  from  eminent  persons  : — the 
dean  of  Exeter,  10/. ;  Dr.  Stanley,  10/. ;  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  10J. 
10s. ;  "  and  even  my  lord  marquis  of  Normanby,  by  my  good  lady's 
solicitations  succeeding  your  grace's,  did  verily  and  indeed,  with  his 
own  hand,  give  me  twenty  guineas,  and  my  lady  five.  With  these  and 
other  sums  I  made  up  about  sixty  pounds,  and  came  home  joyful  enough, 
thanked  God,  paid  as  many  debts  as  I  could,  quieted  the  rest  of  my 
creditors,  took  the  management  of  my  house  into  my  own  hands,  and 
had  ten  guineas  left  to  take  my  harvest." 

The  reader  will  recollect  why  Mr.  Wresley  mentions  so  particularly, 
and  with  surprise  the  gift  of  twenty  guineas  from  the  marquis  of  Nor- 
manby ; — the  insult  offered  to  his  mistress,  whom  Mr.  Wesley  handed 
out  of  his  house  ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  obliged  to  resign  the 
living  of  South  Ormsby,  which  had  been  given  him  by  that  nobleman. 

That  the  marchioness  should  have  used  her  endeavours  with  the  mar- 
quis to  get  Mr.  Wesley  this  donation  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  the 
above  reason  ;  and  the  marquis  himself,  though  highly  incensed  for  the 
time,  had  good  sense  enough  to  see  that  the  minister  of  God  had  done 
only  his  duty  in  the  matter  which  had  given  his  lordship  so  much  dis- 
pleasure. 

In  the  same  letter  a  very  grievous  and  distressing  occurrence  is  thus 
related.  After  mentioning  the  joy  he  felt  on  being  enabled  to  dis- 
charge so  many  small  debts,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  permitted 
to  take  his  own  harvest,  he  adds  : — 

"  But  he  that  is  born  to  be  a  poet  must,  I  am  afraid,  live  and  die 


SAMUEL  WESLEV,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  73 

so,  [that  is,  poor  ;]  for,  on  the  last  of  July,  [1702,]  a  fire  broke  out  in 
my  house  by  some  sparks  which  took  hold  of  the'  thatch  this  dry  time, 
and  consumed  about  two  thirds  of  it  before  it  could  be  quenched.  I  was 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  town  to  visit  a  sick  person,  and  thence  to  R.  Co- 
gan's.  As  I  was  returning,  they  brought  me  the  news  :  I  got  one  of 
his  horses,  rode  up,  and  heard  by  the  way  that  my  wife,  children,  and 
books  were  saved ;  for  which  God  be  praised,  as  well  as  for  what  he 
has  taken.  They  were  all  together  in  my  study,  and  the  fire  under 
them.  When  it  broke  out  she  got  two  of  the  children  in  her  arms,  and 
ran  through  the  smoke  and  fire  ;  but  one  of  them  was  left  in  the  hurry 
till  the  other  cried  for  her;  and  the  neighbours  ran  in  and  got  her  out 
through  the  fire,  as  they  did  my  books,  and  most  of  my  goods  ; — this 
very  paper  among  the  rest,  which  I  afterward  found,  as  I  was  looking 
over  what  was  saved. 

"  I  find  'tis  some  happiness  to  have  been  miserable  ;  for  my  mind 
has  been  so  blunted  with  former  misfortunes,  that  this  scarce  made  any 
impression  upon  me.  I  shall  go  on  by  God's  assistance  to  take  my 
tithe,  and  when  that's  in  to  rebuild  my  house,  having  at  last  crowded 
my  family  into  what's  left,  and  not  missing  many  of  my  goods. 

"  I  humbly  ask  your  grace's  pardon  for  this  long  melancholy  story, 
and  leave  to  subscribe  myself  your  grace's  ever  obliged  and  most 
humble  servant,  S.  WESLEY." 

It  is  rather  singular  that  on  the  quarto  sheet  of  paper  on  which  this 
letter  is  written  he  had  begun  a  letter  to  the  archbishop  in  the  last 
month,  having  just  written  these  words  : — 

"  Epworth,  July  25,  1702. 
"  MY  LORD," 

Not  having  time  then  to  proceed,  this  sheet  lay  ready  in  his  study 
for  his  farther  entries  ;  was  saved  out  of  the  fire  with  the  rest  of  his 
books  and  papers,  the  fire  having  consumed  about  four  square  inches 
of  the  lower  corner  of  the  fly  leaf.  On  this  burnt  paper  was  the  above 
letter  written.  It  lies  before  me,  a  monument  of  God's  mercy  in 
preserving  from  so  near  a  death  his  wife  and  children.  The  stains  of 
the  water  that  helped  to  quench  the  burning  are  still  evident  on  the  paper. 
It  was  in  the  following  year  that  i\ie  founder  of  ike  Methodists  was  born. 
Mr.  Wesley  speaks  of  the  fire  being  occasioned  "  by  some  sparks 
which  took  hold  of  the  tkatqh."  The  house  was  of  such  materials  as  ren- 
dered it  exceedingly  liable  to  damage  by  fire.  It  was  avery  humble  dwell- 
ing ;  and  lam  enabled  to  lay  before  the  readera  perfect  description  of  the 
whole  building,  from  the  most  authentic  source ;  a  survey  taken  June 
19,  Anno  Regni  Jacobi,  D.  Gr.  4  and  40,  A.  D.  1607,  i.  e.  in  the 
fourth  year  of  King  James'  reign  in  England,  and  fortieth  in  Scotland. 
Kpwortk  i  A  survey  or  terrier  of  all  the  possessions  belonging 
Rectoria.  )  to  the  rectorie  of  Epworth,  made  and  taken  by  the 
viewe  perambulation  and  estimate  of  the  minister,  church  wardens  and 
sidesmen  and  others,  inhabitants,  there  being  nominated  and  appointed 
by  William  Folkingham  gent  general  surveyor  of  church  gleabs  and 
possessions  within  the  dioccss  of  Lincoln,  by  virtue  of  a  commission 
decreed  by  the  Rev.  Father  in  God,  William  L.  Bishoppe,  of  Lincoln,  in 
execution,  of  the  canon  on  that  behalf  established. 

10 


74  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Imprimis.  The  Home  stall,  or  scite  of  the  parsonage,  situate  and 
lyenge  betweene  the  field  on  the  east,  and  Lancaster  lane  on  the  west ; 
and  abuttinge  upon  the  Heigh-street  on  the  south,  and  of  John  Maw 
(sonne  of  Thomas)  his  tennement,  and  a  croft  on  the  north  :  and  con- 
tayns  by  estimation  three  acres. 

Hem.  One  hemp  kiln  that  hath  been  usealeie  occupied  for  the  par- 
sonage ground,  adjoining  upon4he  south. 

Item.  Within  the  said  bounds'are  conteined  the  PARSONAGE  HOUSE, 
consisting  of  five  baies,  built  all  of  timber  and  plaister,  and  covered 
with  straw  thaclie,  the  whole  building  being  contrived  into  three  sto- 
ries, and  disposed  in  seven  cheife  rooms  viz  :  A  kitchinge,  a  hall,  a 
parlour,  a  butterie,  and  three  large  upper  rooms  ;  besydes  som  others  of 
common  use  :  and  also  a  little  garden  empailed,  betweene  the  stone  wall 
and  the  south,  on  the  south. 

Item.  One  bam  of  six  bales,  built  all  of  timber  and  clay  walls,  and  cover- 
ed with  straw  thache;  and  outshotts  about  it,  and  one  free  house  therebye. 

Item.  One  dovecoatc  of  timber  and  plaister,  covered  with  strait) 
thache,  &c. 

As  the  rest  of  this  terrier  refers  to  the  glebe  lands  belonging  to  the 
rectory,  it  is  unnecessary  to  transcribe  it.  Only  one  thing  may  be 
noticed,  that  about  twenty-seven  acres  that  originally  belonged  to  this 
rectory  are  not  now  to  be  found,  as  the  boundaries  in  the  description 
are  no  longer  capable  of  being  ascertained. 

Such  was  the  parsonage  house  at  Epworth,  which  by  this  fire  was 
nearly  consumed;  and  which  in  a  few  years  afterward  was  totally 
burnt  down,  and  rebuilt  at  Mr.  Wesley's  own  expense ;  which  house 
remains  to  the  present  day  ;  in  all  respects  greatly  superior  to  the 
preceding. 

The  archbishop,  to  whom  this  account  was  sent,  came  forward  both 
with  his  purse  and  his  influence,  as  on  former  occasions  ;  and  this  pro- 
duced the  following  letter,  drawn  up  in  the  true  spirit  of  gratitude,  and 
in  language  at  once  deeply  pious,  and  highly  dignified  : — 

"  Epworth,  Mart.  20,  1703. 

"  Mv  LORD, — I  have  heard  that  all  great  men  have  the  art  of  forget- 
fulness,  but  never  found  it  in  such  perfection  as  in  your  lordship  :  only 
it  is  in  a  different  way  from  others ;  for  most  forget  their  promises, 
but  your  grace  those  benefits  you  have  conferred.  I  am  pretty  confi- 
dent your  grace  neither  reflects  on  nor  imagines  how  much  you  have 
done  for  me ;  nor  what  sums  I  have  received  by  your  lordship's 
bounty  and  favour ;  without  which  I  had  been  ere  this  mouldy  in  a  jayl, 
and  sunk  a  thousand  fathom  below  nothing. 

"  Will  your  grace  permit  me  to  show  you  an  account  of  some  of  them  ? 

L.    s.  d. 

From  the  marchioness  of  Normanby  20    0    0 

The  lady  Northampton  (1  think)  20    0    0 

Duke  of  Buckingham  and  duchess,  2  years  since  26  17    6 

The  queen  43    0    0 

The  bishop  of  Sarum  40    0    0 

The  archbishop  of  York,  at  least 
Beside  lent  to  (almost)  a  desperate  debtor  25    0    0 

184  17    6 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,   RECTOR   OF   EPWORTH.  75 

"A  frightful  sum,  if  one  saw  it  all  together :  but  it  is  beyond  thanks, 
and  I  must  never  hope  to  perform  that  as  I  ought  till  another  world  ; 
where,  if  I  get  first  into  the  harbour,  I  hope  none  shall  go  before  me  in 
welcoming  your  lordship  into  everlasting  habitations  ;  where  you  will 
be  no  more  tired  with  my  follies,  nor  concerned  at  my  misfortunes. 
However  I  may  pray  for  your  grace  while  I  have  breath,  and  that  for 
something  nobler  than  this  world  can  give  ;  it  is  for  the  increase  of 
God's  favour,  of  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  of  the  foretastes  of 
those  joys,  the  firm  belief  whereof  can  only  support  us  in  this  weary 
wilderness.  And,  if  it  be  not  too  bold  a  request,  I  beg  your  grace  would 
not  forget  me,  though  it  be  but  in  your  prayer  for  all  sorts  and  condi- 
tions of  men :  among  whom,  as  none  has  been  more  obliged  to  your 
grace,  so  I  am  sure  none  ought  to  have  a  deeper  sense  of  it  than  your 
grace's  most  dutiful,  and  most  humble  servant,  S.  WESLEY." 

In  May  1705  there  was  a  contested  election  for  the  county  of  Lin- 
coln. Sir  John  Thorold  and  a  person  called  The  Champion,  Dymoke, 
the  late  members,  were  opposed  by  Colonel  Whichcott  and  Mr.  Jllb. 
Bertie.  Mr.  Wesley  supposing  there  was  a  design  to  raise  up  Presby- 
terianism  over  the  Church,  and  that  Whichcolt  and  Bertie  were  favour- 
able to  it,  (in  consequence  of  which  the  Dissenters  were  all  in  their 
interest,)  espoused  the  other  party  ;  which  happening  to  be  unpopular 
and  unsuccessful,  he  was  exposed  to  great  insult  and  danger  ;  not  only 
by  the  mobs,  but  by  some  leading  men  of  the  successful  faction.  There 
is  before  me  a  long  account  of  these  shameful  transactions  in  two 
letters  written  to  Archbishop  Sharp,  from  which  I  shall  extract  only  a 
few  particulars  : — 

"  I  went  to  Lincoln  on  Tuesday  night,  May  29th  ;  and  the  election 
began  on  Wednesday,  30th.  A  great  part  of  the  night  our  Isle  peo- 
ple kept  drumming,  shouting,  and  firing  of  pistols  and  guns  under  the 
window  where  my  wife  lay;  who  had  been  brought  to  bed  not  three 
weeks.  I  had  put  the  child  to  nurse  over  against  my  own  house  :  the 
noise  kept  his  nurse  waking  till  one  or  two  in  the  morning.  Then  they 
left  off;  and  the  nurse  being  heavy  to  sleep,  overlaid  the  child.  She 
waked  ;  and  finding  it  dead,  ran  over  with  it  to  my  house,  almost  dis- 
tracted ;  and  calling  my  servants,  threw  it  into  their  arms.  They,  as 
wise  as  she,  ran  up  with  it  to  my  wife  ;  and  before  she  was  well  awake 
threw  it  cold  and  dead  into  hers.  She  composed  herself  as  well  as  she 
could,  and  that  day  got  it  buried. 

"  A  clergyman  met  me  in  the  castle  yard  ;  and  told  me  to  withdraw, 
for  the  Isle  men  intended  me  a  mischief.  Another  told  me  he  had  heard 
near  twenty  of  them  say,  if  they  got  me  in  the  castle  yard,  they  would 
squeeze  my  guts  out.  My  servant  had  the  same  advice.  I  went  by 
Gainsboro',  and  God  preserved  me. 

"  When  they  knew  I  was  got  home,  they  sent  the  drum  and  mob, 
with  guns,  &c,  as  usual,  to  compliment  me  till  after  midnight.  One  of 
them  passing  by  on  Friday  evening,  and  seeing  my  children  in  the  yard, 
cried  out,  *  O  ye  devils!  we  will  come  and  turn  ye  all  out  of  doors  a 
begging  shortly.'  God  convert  them,  and  forgive  them  ^ 

"All  this,  thank  God,  does  not  in  the  least  sink  my  wife's  spirits. 
For  ray  own  I  feel  them  disturbed  and  disordered :  but  for  all  that,  I 


76  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

am  going  on  with  my  reply  to  Palmer ;  which,  whether  I  am  in  prison 
or  out  of  it,  I  hope  to  get  finished  by  the  next  sessions  of  parliament, 
for  I  have  now  no  more  regiments  to  lose. 

*'  S.  \VESLEY. 
"  Epworth,  June  7th,  -1705." 

As  I  totally  disapprove  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  entering  into  party 
politics,  and  especially  into  electioneering  affairs,  I  cannot  but  blame 
Mr.  Wesley  for  the  part  he  took  in  these  transactions  ;  for  even  accord- 
ing to  his  own  showing,  he  acted  imprudently,  and  laid  himself  open  to 
those  who  waited  for  his  halting,  and  who  seemed  to  think  they  did  God 
service  by  doing  him  a  mischief;  because  they  knew  him  to  be  a  high 
Churchman,  and  consequently  an  enemy  to  their  religious  system. 
He  was  in  their  power, — under  pecuniary  obligations  to  some  principal 
men  among  them ;  and  he  was  often  led  to  understand,  by  no  obscure 
intimations,  that  he  must  either  immediately  discharge  those  obligations, 
which  he  required  time  to  enable  him  to  do,  or  else  expect  to  be  shortly 
lodged  in  Lincoln  Castle.  These  were  not  vain  threats  :  they  had 
already  contrived  to  strip  him  of  his  chaplaincy  to  Colonel  Lepelle's 
regiment ;  and  how  much  farther  they  proceeded  the  following  letter  to 
the  archbishop  of  York  will  tell ; — 

"Lincoln  Castle,  June  25,  1705. 

*'  MY  LORD, — Now  I  am  at  rest,  for  I  am  come  to  the  haven  where 
I've  long  expected  to  be.  On  Friday  last,  [June  23,]  when  I  had 
been  in  christening  a  child  at  Epworth,  I  was  arrested  in  my  church- 
yard by  one  who  had  been  my  servant,  and  gathered  my  tithe  last  year, 
at  the  suit  of  one  of  Mr.  Whichcolfs  relations  and  zealous  friends, 
[Mr.  Finder,]  according  to  their  promise,  when  they  were  in  the  Isle 
before  the  election.  The  sum  was  not  thirty  pounds  :  but  it  was  as 
good  as  five  hundred.  Now  they  knew  the  burning  of  my  flax,  my 
London  journey,  and  their  throwing  me  out  of  my  regiment,  had  both 
sunk  my  credit  and  exhausted  my  money.  My  adversary  was  sent  to, 
when  I  was  on  the  road,  to  meet  me,  that  I  might  make  some  pro- 
posals to  him.  But  all  his  answer,  (which  I  have  by  me,)  was,  that 
*  I  must  immediately  pay  the  whole  sum,  or  go  to  prison.'  Thither  I 
went,  with  no  great  concern  for  myself;  and  find  much  more  civility 
and  satisfaction  here  than  in  brevibus  gyaris  of  my  own  Epworth.  I 
thank  God,  my  wife  was  pretty  well  recovered,  and  churched  some 
days  before  I  was  taken  from  her ;  and  hope  she'll  be  able  to  look  to 
my  family,  if  they  don't  turn  them  out  of  doors,  as  they  have  often 
threatened  to  do.  One  of  my  biggest  concerns  was  my  being  forced 
to  leave  my  poor  lambs  in  the  midst  of  so  many  wolves.  But  the 
great  Shepherd  is  able  to  provide  for  them,  and  to  preserve  them. 
My  wife  bears  it  with  that  courage  which  becomes  her,  and  which  I 
expected  from  her. 

"  I  don't  despair  of  doing  some  good  here,  (and  so  long  I  shan't 
quite  lose  the  end  of  living,)  and,  it  may  be,  do  more  in  this  new  parish 
than  in  my  old  one :  for  I  have  leave  to  read  prayers  every  morning 
and  afternoon  here  in  the  prison,  and  to  preach  once  a  Sunday,  which 
J  choose  to  do  in  the  afternoon,  when  there  is  no  sermon  at  the  minster. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR   OF   EPWORTH.  77 

And  I'm  getting  acquainted  with  my  brother  jayl-birds  as  fast  as  I  can  ; 
and  shall  write  to  London  next  post,  to  the  Society  for  Propagating 
Christian  Knowledge,  who  I  hope  will  send  me  some  books  to  distri- 
bute among  them. 

"  I  should  not  write  these  things  from  a  jayl  if  I  thought  your  grace 
would  believe  me  ever  the  less  for  my  being  here  ;  where,  if  I  should 
lay  my  bones,  I'd  bless  God,  and  pray  for  your  grace. 

"  Your  gjace's  very  obliged  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  S.  WESLEY." 

It  was  not  likely  that  a  tale  so  afflictive  as  the  preceding  should 
leave  the  pious  heart  of  the  good  Archbishop  Sharp  unaffected.  He 
wrote  to  Mr.  Wesley  on  the  30th  a  kind  letter,  stating  his  sympathy, 
and  what  he  had  beard  against  him  ;  especially  as  to  his  great  obliga- 
tion to  Colonel  Whichcott,  &c.  This  letter  he  immediately  answers, — 
gives  a  satisfactory  expose"  of  all  his  affairs, — his  debts, — and  how  they 
were  contracted ; — at  the  same  time  showing  that  the  reports  which 
had  reached  the  ears  of  his  grace  were  perfectly  false,  and  adduces 
proof; — and  concludes  this  part  of  his  letter  with  pathetically  entreating 
his  grace  "  not  to  be  in  haste  to  credit  what  they  report  of  me,  for 
really  lies  are  the  manufacture  of  the  party ;  and  they  have  raised  so 
many  against  me,  and  spread  them  so  wide,  that  I  am  sometimes 
tempted  to  print  my  case  in  my  own  vindication." 

I  shall  give  another  extract  from  this  letter  which  satisfactorily 
accounts  for  the  way  in  which  his  heavy  debts  were  contracted,  and 
how  his  consequent  embarrassments  arose  : — 

"Lincoln  Castle,  July  10,  1705. 

"  MY  LORD, Then  I  am  not  forgotten,  neither  by  God  nor 

your  lordship. My  debts  are  about  300/.,  which  I  have  contracted 

by  a  series  of  misfortunes  not  unknown  to  your  grace.  The  falling  of 
my  parsonage  barn,  before  I  had  recovered  the  taking  my  living ;  the 
burning  great  part  of  my  dwelling  house  about  two  years  since,  and 
all  my  flax  last  winter ; — the  fall  of  my  income  nearly  one  half,  by  the 
low  price  of  grain ; — the  almost  entire  failure  of  my  flax  this  year, 
which  uses  to  be  the  better  half  of  my  revenue ; — with  my  numerous 
family,  and  the  taking  this  regiment  from  me,  which  I  had  obtained 
with  so  much  expense  and  trouble,  have  at  last  crushed  me,  though  I 
struggled  as  long  as  I  was  able.  Yet  I  hope  to  rise  again,  as  I  have 
always  done  when  at  the  lowest ;  and  I  think  I  cannot  be  much  lower 
now." 

Party  cpirit,  especially  in  political  matters,  is  the  great  disgrace  and 
curse  of  England.  This  spirit  knows  no  friend  ;  feels  no  obligation  ; 
is  unacquainted  with  all  dictates  of  honesty,  charity,  and  mercy  ;  and 
leaves  no  stone  unturned  to  ruin  the  object  of  its  hate.  We  have 
elections  by  law  no  more  than  once  in  seven  years  ;  and  the  mischief 
that  is  then  done  to  the  moral  character  of  the  nation  is  scarcely  repaired 
in  the  succeeding  seven.  All  the  charities  of  life  are  outraged  and 
trampled  under  foot  by  it ;  common  honesty  is  not  heard,  and  lies  and 
defamation  go  abroad  by  wholesale.  The  rascal  many  catch  the  evil 


78  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

reports  which  the  opposed  candidates  and  their  committees  spread  of 
each  other,  and  the  characters  of  the  best  men  in  the  land  are  wounded 
and  lie  bleeding,  till  slow-paced  oblivion  cancels  the  remembrance  of 
the  transactions  which  gave  them  birth.  Even  now,  when  the  nation 
is  improved  in  its  morals  to  an  astonishing  degree,  these  evils  live  in 
mighty  vigour  and  gigantic  form.  What  then  must  they  have  been 
more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  nation  was  torn  by  civil 
and  religious  factions  ;  and  when  a  man  knew  not  his  own  kindred  but 
as  they  were  arranged  with  him  under  his  own  creed  and  the  banner  of 
his  party. 

Mr.  Wesley  and  his  family  had  already  suffered  much  through  the 
rage,  and  I  may  add  malice,  of  the  political  party,  the  interests  of 
which  his  conscience  would  not  permit  him  to  espouse.  And  he  had 
his  reasons ;  he  knew  the  party,  their  views,  and  their  designs ;  and 
he  had  counted  the  cost,  for  he  well  knew  the  penalty  annexed  to  his 
opposition.  They  were  not  content  with  loading  him  with  obloquies, 
and  casting  him  into  prison :  but  proceeded  farther  to  destroy  his 
family,  by  drying  up  the  sources  whence  they  derived  the  necessaries 
of  life !  The  following  letter  to  the  archbishop  gives  terrible  proof  of 
this  implacable  malevolence : — 

"fyncoln  Castle,  Sept.  12,  1705. 

"  MY  LORD, — 'Tis  happy  for  me  that  your  grace  has  entertained 
no  ill  opinion  of  me,  and  won't  alter  what  you  have  entertained,  without 
reason.  But  it  is  still  happier  that  I  serve  a  Master  who  cannot  be 
deceived,  and  who  I  am  sure  will  never  forsake  me.  A  jayl  is  a 
paradise  in  comparison  of  the  life  I  led  before  I  came  hither.  No  man 
has  worked  truer  for  bread  than  I  have  done,  and  few  have  lived  harder, 
or  their  families  either.  I  am  grown  weary  of  vindicating  myself;  not, 
I  thank  God,  that  my  spirits  sink,  or  that  I  have  not  right  of  rny  side, 
but  because  I  have  almost  a  whole  world  against  me,  and  therefore 
shall  in  the  main  leave  my  cause  to  the  righteous  Judge." 

v  He  goes  on  to  mention  two  points  in  which  he  was  cruelly  misrepre- 
sented, as  if  certain  evils  done  to  him  had  come  by  accident,  or  were 
done  by  himself.  What  particularly  concerns  the  present  Memoir  is 
the  following : — 

"  The  other  matter  is  concerning  the  stabbing  my  cows  in  the  night 
since  I  came  hither,  but  a  few  weeks  ago ;  and  endeavouring  thereby 
to  starve  my  forlorn  family  in  my  absence  ;  my  cows  being  all  dryed 
by  it,  which  was  their  chief  subsistence  ;  though  I  hope  they  had  not 
the  power  to  kill  any  of  them  outright. 

"  They  found  out  a  good  expedient  after  it  was  done  to  turn  it  ofT, 
and  divert  the  cry  of  the  world  against  them ;  and  it  was  to  spread  a 
report  that  my  own  brawn  did  this  mischief;  though  at  first  they  said 
my  cows  ran  against  a  scythe  and  wounded  themselves. 

"  As  for  the  brawn,  I  think  any  impartial  jury  would  bring  him  in 
not  guilty,  on  hearing  the  evidence.  There  were  three  cows  all 
wounded  at  the  same  time,  one  of  them  in  three  places :  the  biggest 
was  a  flesh  wound,  not  slanting,  but  directly  in,  toward  the  heart,  which 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,   RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  79 

it  only  missed  by  glancing'outward  on  the  rib.  It  was  nine  inches 
deep;  whereas  the  brawn's  tusks  were  hardly  two  inches  long.  All 
conclude  that  the  work  was  done  with  a  sword,  by  the  breadth  and 
shape  of  the  orifice.  The  same  night  the  iron  latch  of  my  door  was 
twined  off,  and  the  wood  hacked  in  order  to  shoot  back  the  lock,  which 
nobody  will  think  was  with  an  intention  to  rob  my  family.  My  house 
dog,  who  made  a  hu^e  noise  within  doors,  was  sufficiently  punished 
for  his  want  of  politics  and  MODERATION  ;  for  the  next  day  but  one  his 
leg  was  almost  chopped  off  by  an  unknown  hand.  'Tis  not  every  one 
could  bear  these  things :  but  I  bless  God  my  wife  is  less  concerned 
with  suffering  them  than  I  am  in  the  writing ;  or  than  I  believe  your 
grace  will  be  in  reading  them.  She  is  not  what  she  is  represented, 
any  more  than  me.  I  believe  it  was  this  foul  beast,  of  a-worse-than- 
Erymanthean-boar  already  mentioned,  who  fired  my  flax  by  rubbing 
his  tusks  against  the  wall ;  but  that  was  no  great  matter,  since  it  is 
now  reported  I  had  but  Jive  pounds  loss. 

"  0  my  lord !  I  once  more  repeat  it,  that  I  shall  some  time  have  a 
more  equal  Judge  than  any  in  this  world. 

"  Most  of  my  friends  advise  me  to  leave  Epworth  if  e'er  I  should 
get  from  hence.  I  confess  I  am  not  of  that  mind,  because  I  may  yet 
do  good  there ;  and  'tis  like  a  coward,  to  desert  my  post  because  the 
enemy  fire  thick  upon  me.  They  have  only  wounded  me  yet,  and  I 
believe  CAN'T  kill  me.  I  hope  to  be  at  home  by  Xmas.  God  help 
my  poor  family !  For  myself,  I  have  but  one  life  :  but  while  that  lasts, 
shall  be, 

"  Your  grace's  ever  obliged  and  most  humble  servant, 

"S.  WESLEY." 

As  it  was  evident  his  sufferings  were  occasioned  by  the  malice  of 
those  who  hated  both  his  ecclesiastical  and  state  politics ;  the  clergy 
and  several  who  were  well  affected  to  the  government,  lent  him  prompt 
and  effectual  assistance,  so  that  in  a  short  time  more  than  half  of  his 
debts  were  paid,  and  all  the  rest  in  a  train  of  being  liquidated.  These 
things  he  mentions  with  the  highest  gratitude  m  the  following  letter  to 
the  archbishop  of  York  : — 

Lincoln  Castle,  7r.  [Sep/.]  17,  1705. 

"  MY  LORD, — I  am  so  full  of  God's  mercies  that  neither  my  eyes  nor 
heart  can  hold  them.  When  I  came  hither,  my  stock  was  but  little 
above  ten  shillings,  and  my  wife's  at  home  scarce  so  much.  She  soon 
sent  me  her  rings,  because  she  had  nothing  else  to  relieve  me  with  :  but 
I  returned  them,  and  God  soon  provided  for  me.  The  most  of  those 
who  have  been  my  benefactors  keep  themselves  concealed.  But  they 
are  all  known  to  him  who  first  put  it  into  their  hearts  to  show  me  so 
much  kindness ;  and  I  beg  your  grace  to  assist  me  to  praise  God  for  it, 
and  to  pray  for  his  blessing  upon  them. 

"  This  day  I  have  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hoar,  that  he  has  paid 
ninety-five  pounds,  which  he  has  received  from  me.  He  adds  that  *  a 
very  great  man  has  just  sent  him  thirty  pounds  more ;'  he  mentions  not 
his  name,  though  surely  it  must  be  my  patron.  1  find  I  walk  a  deal 
lighter ;  aud  hope  I  shall  sleep  better  now  these  sums  are  paid,  which 


80  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

will  make  almost  half  my  debts.     I  am  a  l»id  beggar,  and  worse  at  re- 
turning formal  thanks :  but  I  can  pray  heartily  for  my  benefactors  ;  and 
I  hope  I  shall  do  it  while  I  live,  and  so  long  beg  to  be  esteemed 
"  Your  grace's  most  obliged,  and  thankful  humble  servant, 

"  SAMUEL  WESLEV." 

I  find  no  account  of  Mr.  Wesley's  liberation  from  Lincoln  Castle, 
where  he  had  now  been  for  about  three  months  :  but  I  suppose  it  took 
place  shortly  after  this,  and  that  he  was  with  his  family  by  Christmas. 
He  appears  to  have  got  on  in  life  much  more  pleasantly  than  before  ; 
and  the  evil  which  his  enemies  intended  him  was  turned  to  his  ad- 
vantage ;  the  wrath  of  man  praised  God,  and  the  remainder  of  it  he 
restrained.  I  meet  with  no  more  complaints  in  his  correspondence, 
which  with  the  archbishop  of  York  appears  to  have  been  interrupted  till 
the  year  1707,  when  it  was  resumed  on  merely  clerical  business. 

I  have  already  had  occasion  several  times  to  refer  to  the  poem  on 
the  Battle  of  Blenheim,  which  was  written  in  1705,  and  procured  him 
a  chaplainship  in  the  army.  This  poem  I  have  never  seen  in  print,  nor 
do  I  know  where  it  thus  exists  :  (though  I  believe  it  was  printed  in  a 
folio  pamphlet,  about  this  time :)  but  a  fine  copy,  undoubtedly  the  ori- 
ginal, written  out  in  his  best  hand,  by  Mr.  Wesley  himself,  and  sent  to 
the  archbishop  of  York,  now  lies  before  me,  and  may  be  finally  lost,  if 
not  inserted  here.  It  contains  jive  hundred  and  ninety-four  lines,  and 
is  intituled, 

MARLBOROUGH,  OR  THE  FATE  OF  EUROPE. 

FAR  from  the  sun  and  regions  bless'd  and  mild, 
Almost  to  utmost  Thule  here  exil'd, 
Forgetting  and  forgotten  long  1  lay, 
Nor  once  wak'd  up,  nor  had  one  thought  of  day  : 

As  Greenland  plants  which  neither  breathe  nor  grow,  5 

When  press'd  beneath  eternal  hills  of  snow; 
As  frozen  insects  to  some  crevice  fly, 
From  winter's  rage,  and  die  or  seem  to  die ; 
Yet  when  the  sun  returns  they  all  revive, 

And  taste  his  genial  rays,  and  wonder  how  they  live.  10 

Such  was  the  change,  when  fame  and  conquest  joined, 
And  garlands  for  the  hero's  temples  twin'd. 
On  Rhetian  Alps  the  vocal  goddess  stood, 
And  ruin  saw  beneath,  and  seas  of  blood. 

She  saw  the  English  lion  fast  advance,  15 

And  tear  the  lyses  from  the  arms  of  France. 
Thrice  did  she  Marlborough  and  conquest  sound, 
And  spread  the  news  through  all  her  endless  round ; 
To  Asian  fields  by  sanguine  Isler  borne, 

And  regions  bordering  on  the  rising  morn.  20 

For  Gallic  fields  more  slowly  moved  the  Rhone, 
And  fill'd  them  with  a  universal  groan. 
The  joyful  Rhine,  a  captive  now  no  more, 
Urg'd  on  its  waves  to  greet  the  Belgic  shore. 

Fair  Thames  and  Medway  hear,  nor  would  they  stay,  25 

But  to  Agusta's  walls,  with  shouts,  the  news  convey. 
Nor  my  lov'd  Trent  unmov'd  ;  though  calm  before, 
She  with  a  double  eagre  sweeps  the  shore ; 
They  only  echo  to  the  voice  of  fame, 
Conquest  and  Marlbarmie;h  they  all  proclaim. 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,   RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  81 

Goddess,  resume  thy  long  neglected  lyre, 
Once  more  the  vocal  strings  with  soul  inspire, 
The  hero  sing,  and  of  his  fame  partake, 
While  his  immortal  deeds  thy  song  immortal  make ! 
The  Father  who  the  fates  of  empires  weighs,  35 

And  with  impartial  eye  the  world  surveys, 

Beheld  the  Gallic  pow'r  so  haughty  grown, 

It  dar'd  rebel  and  struggle  with  his  own, 

Snatch  at  his  thunder,  and  affect  his  throne. 

They  even  transcend  great  nature's  steadfast  mound,  40 

Reverse  her  laws,  and  good  and  ill  confound. 

Force  is  their  right ;  their  oaths  their  sacied  word, 

Short-lived  convenience,  and  their  god  their  sword. 

Nor  this  the  eternal  Sun  who  shines  above, 

Whose  essence's  truth,  whose  beauteous  rays  are  love ;  45 

Who  will  not  force  the  mind,  but  gently  draws, 

And  whose  wise  goodness  to  his  pow'r  gives  laws ; 

He  saw  the  monster  swell  to  vast  excess, 

Her  ancient  bounds  with  scornful  pride  transgress : 

One  wing  beyond  the  cloudy  Alps  was  stretch'd,  50 

O'er  Pyrenean  rocks  her  other  reach'd : 

The  volumes  of  her  vast  enormous  train, 

To  worlds  unknown  beyond  the  Atlantic  main. 

The  German  Eagle  next,  the  wings  t'  invade, 

While  nations  shake  beneath  her  deadly  shade  ;  55 

The  royal  bird  in  vain  his  thunder  bears, 

And  oft  though  struck  to  earth  himself  he  rears ; 
Cuff'd  and  disabled  oft,  attempts  to  rise, 

And  re-assume  his  empire  in  the  skies  ; 

Wounded  and  faint,  maintains  a  feeble  fight,  60 

With  equal  valour,  but  inferior  might. 

The  Dragon's  teeth,  fierce  new-born  armies  yield, 

An  iron  harvest  round  the  moisten'd  field ; 

Intestine  foes  the  sacred  empire  tear, 

And  in  her  bowels  urge  Hnnatural  war.  65 

A  prosperous  traitor,  with  invaders  join'd, 

To  ruin  what  barbarians  spar'd  design'd : 

Germany  is  no  more  ;  the  Golds  advance, 

O'er  captive  liter's  streams,  and  all  is  France. 

Hardly  their  fam'd  metropolis  appear'd,  70 

And  something  now  beyond  the  Turks  they  fear'd. 

Like  some  strong  town  whose  walls  the  foe  had  gain'd, 

The  narrow  citadel  alone  remain'd, 

111  guarded,  half  deserted,  and  distressed, 

A  panic  terror  seizing  every  breast.  75 

A 

Liguria  pass'd,  again  the  furious  Gaul, 
Might  Rom*  have  sack'd,  and  press'd  the  capilol. 
But  Rome  submits,  nor  boasts  her  mighty  deeds, 
Infallible, — while  Gallic  pow'r  succeeds. 

Yet  still  more  base,  perfidious  aid  she  lends,  80 

And  with  mean  arts  oetrays  her  ancient  friends ; 
Retreating  slow  with  rage  the  floods  they  crcss>'d  ; 
What  they  by  valour  gain'd,  by  treason  lost. 

The  while,  a  joy  to  madness  near  allied, 

Lutelia's  temples  rends,  and  swells  her  pride  :  85 

The  Pagans'  sanguine  rites  reproach  no  more, 
Or  Scythian  altars  stain'd  With  human  gore, 
When  mis-nam'd  Christians  dare  affront  the  skies, 
And  myriads  after  myriads  sacrifice ; 

Rank  i.   their  squadrons  every  guililcss  star,  90 

And  make  them  panic-  in  tnrir  impious  war. 
11 


82  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Yet  think  no  grateful  incense  can  aspire, 

Like  smoke  from  towns  that  shine  with  hostile  fire. 

Couriers  on  breathless  couriers  daily  sent, 

Fresh  laurels  bring,  and  fame  itself  prevent.  95 

Te  Deums  now  are  vulgar  anthems  grown, 

From  matins  and  from  vespers  hardly  known. 

Those  decent  thanks  for  heaven  they  spare,  'tis  true, 

But  to  their  monarch  think  far  more  is  due. 

New  blasphemies,  new  adorations  paid,  100 

They  kiss  his  feet,  and  still  implore  his  aid. 

If  Lewis  shine,  they  laugh  at  those  above ; 

As  father  Nile  alone  is  Egypt's  Jove. 

Elated  even  beyond  their  nation's  pride, 

Themselves,  as  well  as  him,  they  deified.  105 

While  Lewis  like  the  Samian  tyrant  reigns, 

And  fortune  by  his  chariot  leads  in  chains. 

The  bounds  of  human  happiness  surpass'd, 

To  the  third  heir,  he  sees  his  ill  got  conquest  ladt. 

Such  was  the  face  of  things,  such  Europe's  state,  1 10 

When  thus  the  sovereign  arbiter  of  fate: — 
"  Thus  far  have  we  the  oppressor's  fall  delay'd : 
But  here  shall  his  insulting  waves  be  stay'd. 
Worthy  our  vengeful  thunder  now  he  grows ; 

And  now 'tis  worthy  heaven  to  interpose  :  115 

This  moment's  fixed  by  our  unchang'd  decree 
The  utmost  verge  of  prosp'rous  tyranny." 
Then  of  the  powers  which  near  His  throne  attend, 
And  by  the  wond'rous  golden  chain  descend, 

He  singles  these : — first  prudence,  heavenly  fair,  120 

Her  looks  unclouded,  yet  with  thoughtful  air. 
The  next  was  fortitude ; — what  sprightly  grace 
And  promises  of  conquest  in  her  face ! 
Celerity  was  in  commission  join'd, 

Whose  wings  outfly  the  lightning  and  the  wind.  125 

Then  secrecy  with  modest  glories  crown'd, 
And  rob'dwith  awful  clouds,  which  Heaven's  bright  throne  surround. 

"  Go  to  the  man,"  He  said,  "  by  us  design'd 
To  humble  France,  and  Europe's  chains  unbind : 

Go,  and  our  seal'd  commission  with  you  bear,  130 

His  constant  guards,  and  partners  of  the  war." 
By  intuition  they  his  name  discern'd ; 
Yet  unpronounc'd  lest  by  some  traitor  learn'd, 
Crowding  disguis'd  among  the  sons  of  day, 
He  should  th'  important  truth  to  hell's  allies  convey.  d35 

They  bow'd  ;  and  swerving  down  the  deep  descent, 
Borne  on  a  beauteous  lunar  rainbow  went,       ," 
And  Marlborough !  alighted  at  thy  tent ; 
As  on  Mosella's  streams  thy  squadrons  lay, 

Waiting  for  thee,  and  the  returning  day.  140 

For  now  the  silent  noon  of  night  was  o'er, 
And  Phoebe  hastened  to  her  eastern  shore. 
Thoughtful  they  found  the  chief,  his  head  reclin'd, 
The  fate  of  Europe  labouring  in  his  mind. 

His  heavenly  friends  unseen  assistance  brought,  145 

Mould  the  great  scheme,  and  polish  every  thought ; 
Till  ripened  with  new  vigour  in  his  eyes, 
And  waked  from  deep  concern, — "It  must  be  thus,"  he  cries: 
"  This  saves  our  friends,  and  breaks  th'  united  powers 
Of  haughty  France  and  hell,  if  Heaven  be  ours :"  150 

Then  calls  to  horse ;  his  willing  troops  obey ; 
Speed  marched  before,  and  travell'd  all  the  way ; 


SAMUEL  WESLET,  RECTOR  OF  EPAVORTH.  83 

While  secrecy  a  cloud  around  them  drew, 

Too  thick  for  subtle  spies  or  traitor's  view  : 

Such  that  which  round  God's  favourite  armies  spread,  155 

And  safe  thro1  sandy  worlds  and  trackless  deserts  led. 

Dazzled  at  first  the  foes  before  lum  run, 

Like  birds  obscene  that  cannot  bear  the  sun ; 

O'er  liter's  streams  their  leader  speeds  his  flight, 

Immers'd  in  earth,  and  shuns  the  conscious  light ;  160 

There,  meditating  mischief,  doom'd  to  wait 

Till  France  awhile  prolongs  and  shares  his  fate. 

Once  more  from  earth  th'  imperial  eagle  springs, 

And  prunes  his  bolts  and  shakes  his  moulted  wings : 

Tho'  slow  with  wounds,  his  fate  is  pleas'd  to  try,  165 

And  bravely  bid  for  death  or  victory ; 

Nor  needs  the  heavenly  courier,  sent  to  guide 

The  British  chief,  unguarded  leave  his  side  : 

The  Gennan  heroes  need  not  press  to  join 

And  share  the  glory  of  the  brave  design.  170 

As  when  a  matron  by  fierce  ruffians  found 

Unguarded  and  alone  isseiz'd  and  bound  ; 

If  Heaven  to  her  unhop'd  assistance  send, 

Some  generous  warrior  or  some  powerful  friend  ; 

They  need  not  long  her  valiant  sons  persuade,  175 

('Tis  nature's  kindly  task)  to  join  their  aid  ; 

They  on  the  wings  of  love  and  duty  fly, 

Resolv'd  to  save  her,  or  resolv'd  to  die. 

Who  first,  who  next,  shall  of  these  worthies  claim 

A  deathless  memory  in  the  rolls  of  fame  !  180 

Eugene  the  first  such  faith  such  valour  shown, 

Adopted  Germany's  and  all  her  own  : 

Whose  arms  too  well  the  Gallic  ensigns  know, 

Oft  met  by  Mincius,  and  the  royal  Po, 

And  rolled  in  blood :  nor  Baden's  sword  in  vain  185 

On  misbelievers  drawn,  he  has  his  theusands  slain. 

Next  him  undaunted  Hesse : — how  young,  how  brave 

A  German  all,  he  hates  the  name  of  slave, 

Triumphant  France  his  arms  have  taught  to  yield, 

And  trail'd  their  conqu'ring  standards  from  the  field.  190 

More  might  I  sing,  in  time's  fair  leaves  enroll'd, 
How  prodigal  of  life,  how  largely  soul'd  ! 
Who  when  the  rally'd  foe  with  cautious  fear 
On  Danube's  banks  strove  to  secure  their  rear ; 

When  art  and  nature  in  their  camp  unite  195 

Forc'd  the  strong  pass  and  put  'em  both  to  flight : 
Earnest  of  greater  sums  which  fate  will  pay, 
A  glorious  morning  to  a  brighter  day. 

See  where  the  French  new  Hydra  armies  send 

At  once  to  ruin  and  assist  their  friend :  200 

Till  when  too  weak,  he  not  disdains  to  try 
Base  faith-breach  and  unprincely  treachery. 
Virtues  he  copied  from  his  great  ally : 
Obtending  treaty  would  our  faith  abuse, 

And  where  he  can't  resist  our  arms,  amuse.  205 

But  prudence,  calling  diffidence  to  aid, 
To  the  confederate  chief  the  fraud  displayed  : 
So  may  they  join  in  happy  hour,  said  he, 
Our  fi^hl  will  yield  a  double  victory. 

Devotion  which  too  oft  in  camps  has  been  810 

A  stranger,  nor  in  temples  always  seen, 


84  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Drawn  by  his  great  example  and  desire, 

Returns,  and  does  his  vigorous  troops  inspire 

With  a  new  warmth,  and  more  than  martial  fire. 

When  Heaven  they  conquer,  how  can  man  withstand,  215 

Or  mortal  strength  resist  the  Almighty's  hand  ? 

Secure  of  fate,  they  on  success  rely, 

'Tis  with  them  equal  now  to  sleep  or  die. 

They  with  their  strong  cherubic  guards  unite, 

And  like  the  Thundering  Legion  pray  and  fight ;  220 

For  now  the  long  expected  morn  arose, 

Which  showed  them  their  desire,  the  united  foes.    • 

Not  eager  lovers  with  more  transport  see 

Long  absent  friends  than  these  their  enemy. 

Though  all  they  wished,  the  numbers  and  the  ground  225 

Was  theirs,  and  hills,  and  woods,  and  shades  profound ; 

Without  such  odds  we  had  not  fought  'em  fair, 

Deep  trenches  here,  and  tow'ring  ramparts  there  : 

A  wall  of  cannons,  which  in  fire  and  smoke 

Their  master's  last  and  only  reason  spoke.  230 

Their  flank  the  Danube  fatally  secures 

Whose  stream  a  foreign  lord  ill  pleased  endures, 

But  like  the  towns  whose  captive  walls  he  laves, 

Which  blush  to  see  their  towers  reflected  from  his  waves, 

The  approaching  happy  moment  waits  with  pain,  235 

When  fate  and  Marlborough  shall  break  his  chain. 

Nor  this  sufficed.    In  from  a  deep  morass, 

Denying  all  that  wanted  wings  to  pass ; 

But  soon  our  general's  conduct  and  his  care 

Strong  flying  bridges  threw,  and  marched  in  air.  240 

When  from  the  bog's  abyss  a  phantom  rose, 
And  did  his  vast  tremendous  form  disclose, 
All  armed  in  burnished  brass  :  a  shield  he  wore 
Of  polished  steel,  with  lyses  powdered  o'er, 

Whose  drooping  heads  surcharged  with  human  gore.  245 

Superb  his  air,  as  when  from  bliss  he  fell ; 
He  was  no  vulgar  potentate  in  hell. 

"  Shall  we  look  on,  and  no  assistance  lend 
Our  darling  nation,  and  our  bravest  friend  ? 

Must  then  a  woman  crush  our  rising  state  ?  250 

O  envy!  O  malignity  of  fate  ! 
Can  Bourbon  fall  like  feeble  Austria  !  Can 
A  God  confessed  submit  to  less  than  man  ? — 
Ye  powers  J  do  two  Elizas  breathe  in  Anne ! 

Shall  partial  heavea  her  arms  and  counsels  guide,  255 

And  for  her  favourite  chief  such  guards  provide  ! 
(He  saw  the  shining  warriors  by  his  side.) 
Must  nature's  self  within  his  ranks  take  pay, 
While  pushing  on  the  great  decisive  day  ? 

Big  with  such  vast  events,  bold  mortal,  stay  !  260 

Though  water,  earth,  and  air  I  must  resign, 
I'll  try  if  all  the  elements  be  thine, 
Turenne  and  Schomberg  !  for  a  third  prepare 
Your  silent  shades;  this  moment  sees  him  there  !" 
He  said,  then  to  a  murdering  cannon  pressed,  265 

Traversed  the  piece,  and  points  it  at  his  breast ; 
One  of  his  train  gives  fire,  the  bullet  takes  its  flight, ' 
And  drew  behind  a  trail  of  deadly  light: 
But  glorious  Michael,  who  attends  unseen, 

Steps  in  and  claps  his  sevenfold  targe  between :  270 

'Twas  he  for  the  red  cross  adorned  his  breast, 
And  the  old  dragon's  spoils  his  dreadful  crest. 


SAMUEL  WESLEV,  RECTOR   OF   EPWORTH.  85 

Dropped  short  the  fiery  messenger  of  death, 

As  with  his  journey  tired  and  out  of  breath. 

The  fiend  blasphemed  his  hopeful  project  crossed,  275 

And  thrice  renounced  what  long  before  he'd  lost : 

He  thence  amid  the  thickest  ranks  retires, 

And  all  with  his  own  desperate  rage  inspires. 

'Twas  well  his  caitiff  body  was  but  air, 

Or  Marlborough  had  found  and  seized  him  there,  280 

Who,  all  things  now  prepared  to  strike  the  blow, 

Thus  to  his  English  soldiers,  Here's  the  foe  ! 

Like  air,  like  fire,  like  English  swift  they  ran, 

With  well  known  shouts  the  bloody  toil  began. 

Now  fight,  Philistines,  or  your  Dagon's  gone,  285 

The  sacrtd  nrk  prevails,  and  you're  undone. 

They  did  as  Lewis  were  himself  in  sight; 

As  who  for  lite,  and  more  for  empire  fight, 

Forget  themselves ;  and  charge  and  charge  again, 

Nor  only  in  their  onset  more  than  men,  290 

Rallied  and  rallied,  till  though  bored  and  broke, 

And  de^th  with  death  repaid,  and  stroke  with  stroke. 

And  did  we  shrink  ?     Did  English  troops  give  way  ? 
Say  ye  who  felt  them,  brave,  though  conquered,  say  ! 
Pressed  by  your  numbers,  did  we  seem  to  fly,  295 

Or  start?     Did  any  leave  his  rank  to  die ! 
How  decently  they  fell,  unknowing  none  to  yield, 
And  with  their  manly  bodies  strewed  the  field  ! 

What  warriors  those,  with  death  encompassed  round, 
It  should  be  Cults,  but  he's  without  a  wound :  300 

So  many  a  scp.r  from  former  fields  he  wore, 
He  now  escapes,  there  was  no  room  for  more ! 
Thus  stars  which  in  the  galaxy  combine 
With  numerous  beams,  yet  undistinguished  shine. 
Look  down,  ye  blessed !  O  Courcy,  Talbot,  Vert,  305 

Look  down,  and  know  your  genuine  offspring  here  ! 
Glory's  too  mean  a  prize,  'tis  false,  though  bright : 
But  these  for  liberty  and  Europe  fight. 
Tis  fairly  thrown,  the  gains  will  quit  the  cost ; 
This  evening  sees  aworld  preserved  or  lost.  310 

At  distance  labouring  round  great  Eugene  see, 
And  with  him  the  remains  of  Germany. 
What  life,  what  spirit,  what  superior  air  ? 
How  can  such  troops  be  beat  when  Eugene's  there  ? 
Nor  were  they  unemployed  ;  nor  would  the  foe  315 

Led  by  Bavaria,  yield  without  a  blow. 
So  a  fell  wolf  that  long  unchecked  has  prowl'd 
And  scour'd  the  plains,  and  stormed  the  trembling  fold  ; 
When  him  the  shepherds  to  his  covert  track, 

And  aided  by  their  faithful  dogs  attack  ;  320 

Oblique  he  grins,  fierce,  though  encompassed  round, 
Still  fights,  and  none  escapes  without  a  wound. 

Of  troops,  brigades,  and  wings,  the  rest  take  care, 
But  Marlborough  alone  is  every  where  ; 

As  prudence  bids,  the  various  battle  views ;  325 

Like  nature,  what  is  lost  by  time  and  death  renews ; 
Till  courage  calls,  her  well  known  voice  he  hears, 
Erect  and  greater  than  himself  appears. 
With  him  the  English  cavalry  advance, 

And  charge  and  mingle  with  the  flower  of  France.  3JO 

They  feeithe  odds,  their  ancient  lords  they  fly, 
And  now  had  little  else  to  do  but  die. 


86  OP  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Churchill  who  like  his  brother  look'd  and  fought, 

One  army  slew,  another  captive  brought : 

While  by  Lord  Hesse,  the  Belgic  squadrons  led,  335 

Like  English  charg'd  ;  the  French  admired  and  fled. 

For  now  'tis  done  ;  the  mighty  struggle's  past ; 

The  braver  juster  side  prevails  at  last. 

France  may  be  beat ;  her  boasted  reign  is  o'er, 

The  scourge  and  terror  of  the  world's  no  more.  340 

There,  Lewis  !  all  thy  blasted  laurels  lie  ;  . 

And  there,  thy  universal  monarchy ! 

Thy  hoary  warriors  boast  their  spoils  in  vain : 

Th'  invincibles  are  broke  ;  th'  immortal  squadron's  slain  ! 

Let  chronicles  to  future  worlds  recite  345 

The  carnage  and  the  relics  of  the  fight ; 
What  thousands  plunge  in  death  their  lives  to  save, 
And  sought  glad  refuge  underneath  the  wave  ; 
Sinking,  a  ghastly  look  behind  them  threw, 

Lest  to  the  bottom  we  should  them  pursue ;  350 

While  their  more  valiant  leader  dared  survive, 
And  to  adorn  our  triumphs  deigns  to  live. 
What  armies  we  of  generals  led  away, 
What  lumber-captains,  and  how  vast  a  prey ; 

Troops  of  noblesse,  battoons,  and  mangled  peers,  355 

How  many  a  house  in  France  that  mourning  wears ; 
Tho'  kind  gazettes  repair  the  loss  with  ease, 
And  raise  new  paper-squadrons  as  they  please. 

But  why  so  slow?    Why  does  not  Lewis  stamp, 

Or  with  a  nod  recruit  Bavaria's  camp  ?  360 

Must  he  for  nature's  tardy  methods  wait, 
Th'  immortals  in  an  instant  can  create. 
Why  then  delay  his  succours  'till  the  spring, 
Since  greater  honour  to  his  pow'r  'twould  bring 

To  make  an  army  than  to  make  a  king.  365 

Or  did  he  leave  his  friend  to  fall  so  low, 
The  greater  pow'r  in  his  relief  to  show  7 
Nor  did  he  at  the  shadow  snatch  in  vain  : 
See  him  ambitious  regal  honours  gain, 

E'en  in  his  flight,  for  thus  did  France  ordain.  370 

'Till  the  next  vacancy  preferment  brings, 
And  ranks  him  in  the  college  of  his  kings. 

Gazettes  may  fill  the  triumphs  that  remain 
We  glean  some  dukes,  and  a  few  towns  we  gain 

Before,  the  work  of  but  one  large  campaign.  375 

We  came,  we  conquered,  ev'n  before  we  saw 
Augsburg  and  Ulm,  and  thee  regain'd,  Landau! 

And  now  for  peace  should  Europe  humbly  sue, 
And  gen'rous  France  the  treaty  deign  renew  ; 

Should  she  the  glory  of  her  arms  deny,  380 

And  condescend  to  part  with  Germany, 
Her  righteous  cause  so  must  an  umpire  leave, 
As  cannot  be  deceived  nor  can  deceive ; 
The  infallible  at  Rome,  the  sacred  chair, 

Where  faith  can  hardly  with  her  own  compare : —  385 

What  happy  halcyon  days  must  needs  ensue 
How  just,  how  firm  the  alliance, and  how  true! 
Next  to  have  ne'er  begun  the  war  how  bless'd 
Our  land,  of  peace  on  such  fair  terms  possess'd. 

Thus  soon  may  Lewis  move,  and  thus  may  those  390 

Who  scarce  disguis'd  declare  for  Europe's  foes  ; 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  87 

And  had  their  sage  advice  prevaiPd  before, 

Marlborough  ne'er  had  left  our  English  shore, 

The  mighty  work  had  still  been  incomplete, 

And  heaven  in  vain  had  form'd  him  well  and  great.  395 

We  merit  chains  if  France  again*we  trust, 

Who  will  not,  cannot,  to  her  oaths  be  just. 

Her  frowns  are  many,  but  her  smiles  are  base : 

These  fairly  kill ;  those  stab  with  an  embrace. 

Bavaria,  Savoy,  greater  names  can  say  400 

How  dearly  for  her  friendship  fond  to  pay, 

May  those  be  bless'd  with  such  a  strong  ally, 

Who  start  at  swords,  and  would  by  ling'ring  poisons  die ! 

Let  war,  and  let  more  hundred  millions  come, 

And  worse  perhaps  than  either  feuds  at  home.  405 

So  our  loud  crimes  may  not  so  high  ascend, 

As  to  pull  down  the  curse  of  having  France  our  friend ! 

The  die  is  cast,  and  fortune  courts  the  brave ; 

No  medium's  left,  he  must  be  lord  or  slave. 

Too  long,  illustrious  chief!  have  we  delay'd,  410 

The  praise,  the  triumphs,  which  can  ne'er  be  paid. 
We  lent  thee  to  th'  allies,  but  never  gave, 
Hast  thou  another  Germany  to  save? 

At  length  he  comes,  and  leaves  the  Belgian  shore  ; 
What  myriads  stretch  to  meet  him  half  seas  o'er ;  415 

While  his  loved  name  their  hearts  and  lips  employs, 
Prevents  their  eyes,  and  antedates  their  joys. 
Some  praise  his  equal  conduct  in  the  state, 
In  council  calm,  unmoved  by  warm  debate, 

Great  in  the  court,  yet  him  the  country  bless  420 

Great  in  the  camp,  now  rare  a  happiness ! 
Above  a  narrow  faction's  mean  design, 
True  as  the  sun  to  his  meridian  line. 
These  his  dexterity  for  business  made, 

His  application  these,  and  timely  aid.  425 

Some  his  humanity  ;  how  easy  of  access, 
How  prone  to  save,  and  pity  and  redress  ; 
How  form'd  to  help,  how  made  to  please  and  bless ! 
While  others  choose  his  laurels  fetch'd  from  far, 
Fight  o'er  his  battles,  and  renew  the  war.  430 

Like  the  great  Spirit  that  moves  this  varied  whole 
Is  Marlborough  his  numerous  armies'  soul. 
Tis  he  informs  each  part,  his  looks  inspire 
With  vig'rous  wisdom  and  with  tempered  fire. 

Nothing  he  leaves  to  chance's  blind  pretence,  435 

But  all  is  prudence,  all  is  providence. 
Firm  and  intrepid  to  the  last  degree, 
Alike  from  slowness  and  from  rashness  free ; 
The  French  and  German  virtues  he  unites, 

Like  one  consults,  and  like  the  other  fights.  440 

Above  mean  arts  of  spinning  long  campaigns, 
Where  both  must  lose  but  neither  party  gains ; 
'Twas  not  for  this  his  English  marcn'd  so  far, 
He  came  to  end,  and  not  to  make  a  war. 

The  torrent  of  his  conquests  flows  so  fast,  445 

Like  waves  the  first  is  buried  in  the  last ; 
When  Liege  tiio  deluge  of  his  arms  subdued, 
Bavaria  might  his  gathering  fate  have  view'd. 

One  summer's  isthmus  only  did  repress, 

The  two  vast  rival  seas  of  his  success.  450 

While  fate  took  time  to  breathe  that  instant  o'er, 
The  waters  rend  away  the  narrow  shore ; 


. 

83  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Both  oceans  meet,  new  hills  on  hills  are  toss'd 

And  mingling  waves  in  friendly  waves  are  lost. 

The  Macedonian  youth,  whose  arms  subdued  455 

The  Roman-Persians  and  the  Indians  rude, 

Beyond  a  mortal  lineage  strove  to  rise, 

And  claim'd  ambitious  kindred  with  the  skies : 

But  had  his  phalanx  won  such  fame  as  ours,  • 

And  routed  Bourbon's  and  Bavaria's  powers,  460 

For  Mammon's  son  too  great,  he'd  s»ar  above, 

And  filled  the  car  of  Mars,  or  throne  of  Jove. 

Our  conqueror  saves  more  than  the  Greek  o'erran ; 

Yet  bows  to  heaven,  and  owns  himself  a  man  ; 

Forbids  those  altars  we  attempt  to  raise,  465 

At  once  surmounts  both  vanity  and  praise  I 

But  emperors  alike  and  poets  err, 
Who  strive  to  raise  his  finished  character ; 
The  name  of  Marlborough  such  worth  proclaims, 

Hero  and  prince  to  that  are  vulgar  names :  470 

His  sovereign's  smiles,  and  heaven's  alone  can  pay 
What  Europe  owes  him  for  so  great  a  day. 

And  now  her  awful  head  Brittannia  rears 
On  Dubrfs  cliffs,  an  azure  robe  she  wears, 

The  sword  and  long  contested  trident  bears ;  475 

While  her  white  rocks  the  turrets  of  her  court 
Can  scarce  th'  impatient  gazer's  weight  support; 
While  thither  all  her  subjects  turn  their  eyes, 
As  Persians  when  their  god  prepares  to  rise, 

And  thousands  after  thousands  crowding  rah  ;  480 

Pleas'd  with  the  concourse,  thus  the  nymph  began  : — 
"  If  ever  joy  admitted  of  excess, 
It  must  be  now,  for  mine  is  hardly  less ; 
Already  the  lov'd  man  yon  waits  in  sight, 

The  distant  skies  are  fring'd  with  radiant  light ;  485 

The  waves  can  scarce  support  the  weight  he  brings, 
As  proud  as  when  they  brought  your  captur'd  kings : 
Yet  e'er  once  more  his  native  lands  are  press'd, 
And  England  with  his  glorious  footsteps  bless'd, 

With  care  a  mother's  kind  advice  attend  :  490 

Brittannia  speaks,  a  mother  and  a  friend. 
So  may  you  brighter  trophies  yet  obtain, 
Nor  heav'n  on  favour'd  Albion  smile  in  vain. 
Enough,  my  sons  !  enough  of  noise  and  strife, 

And  stern  debate,  the  deadliest  plagues  of  life.  495 

Now  learn  to  love ;  your  arrows  close  unite, 
Unbroke  and  firm  as  your  own  ranks  in  fight. 
My  senates  will,  I  know  they  will  combine 
To  frustrate  tottering  France's  last  design  : 

If  those  agree  she  doubly  must  despair ;  500 

If  not,  we  lose  in  peace  our  gains  in  war. 
Contend  they  may,  and  warmly  will  debate, 
Which  most  shall  guard,  and  most  adorn  the  stale. 
Or  first  my  wishes  and  their  own  prevent, 

In  thanks  for  those  high  blessings  heaven  has  sent.  505 

Their  only  strife,  their  only  grand  contest,  • 
Which  loves  their  sovereign  and  their  country  l»est. 
How  weighty  falls  the  curse  on  those  whose  pride 
Or  faction  would  those  sacred  names  divide  ! 

Why  should  they  clash  who  equal  good  intend,  510 

Or  differ  in  their  method  more  thai,  end ! 
Preserve,  my  sons,  those  barriers  heaven  has  made, 
Let  none  my  ancient  landmarks  dare  invade  ! 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  ?9 

Uuenvious  to  yourselves  your  bliss  possess, 

And  be  for  once  content  with  happiness !  515 

Look  round  the  spacious  globe,  and  find  a  spot, 

(In  vain  ye  seek  it)  that  excels  your  lot. 

Fire,  rapine,  famine,  sweep  all  Europe's  plains  ; 

Here,  tlironed  in  blood,  a  moody  tyrant  reigns: 

Weak  councils  and  contending  interests  there  520 

With  much  of  pain,  expense,  intrigue,  and  care, 

Treasure  eternal  seeds  of  strife  and  war : 

Here  a  young  Phaeton  drives  furious  on, 

With  his  high  seat  and  fortune  giddier  grown  : 

His  hands  would  Jove's  own  ponderous  bolts  retain,  525 

That  grasp  the  unwieldy  forces  of  the  main  : 

Rashless  pursues  what  valour  well  began, 

He'd  kings  unmake,  and  make,  e'er  lie's  himself  a  man. 

While  sacred  Themis  in  my  Albion  reigns, 

Whose  equal  hand  my  sword  and  Heaven's  sustains ;  530 

Impartial  she,  how  fondly  fabled  blind, 

Sent  to  redress  the. wrongs  of  all  mankind. 

See  her  the  bright  capacious  balance  hold, 

Like  that  which  shines  above,  and  flames  with  heavenly  gold. 

In  vain  the  Gaul  his  ancient  arts  has  shown,  *35 

And  in  the  lighter  scale  his  sword  has  thrown ; 

Her  temper'd  blade  to  th'  adverse  scale  applied, 

His  mounts  in  air,  and  feels  the  juster  side  : 

Nor  will  she  sheathe  it,  to  the  hilt  embued 

And  drunk  with  hostile  blood,  till  France  and  vice  subdued ;  540 

Yet  calm,  as  those  above,  if  aught  they  know 

Aught  that  concerns  their  militant  friends  below 

When  tyrants  here  subdued  or  monsters  slain, 

A  sober  joy  shoots  round  the  eternal  plain. 

How  firmly  wise  !  how  great  her  easy  state  !  $45 

What  goodness  does  majestic  power  rebate. 

Strong  as  Hyperion  shoots  his  golden  light ; 

Yet  mild  her  rays,  as  Cynthia's,  and  as  bright. 

Her  soul,  like  the  superior  orbs  serene, 

Which  know  not  what  a  cloud  or  tempest  mean ;  560 

Though  pointed  flames  are  by  their  influence  hurl'd, 

And  their  unerring  thunders  awe  the  subject  world, 

If  distant  regions  taste  her  friendly  care,      > 

How  bless'd,  who  her  maternal  goodness  share. 

Her  bounds  beyond  Herculean  columns  known,  555 

And  ancient  Co/pe's  walls  her  empire  own  : 

While  peace  and  justice  she  at  home  maintains, 

And  in  her  subjects'  hearts  unrivall'd  reigns. 

Whom  has  she  not  obliged  1    How  wretched  those 

Who  are  their  own,  and  her's,  and  virtue's  foes  I  560 

Eliza  might  have  learnt  from  her  to  please  ; 

Herself  she  taxes  for  her  people's  ease  : 

What  altars  by  her  gen'rous  hand  supplied, 

Whose  flames  nave  dimly  roll'd,  whose  fires  had  died, 

Shall  shine  with  incense  which  her  bounty  threw,  566 

And  constant  intercourse  with  heaven  renew  ? 

From  thence  a  full  return  of  blessings  gain. 

Nor  have  her  grateful  offerings  blazed  in  vain. 

The  vested  priests  the  cheerful  flame  surround, 

Deserted  domes  are  filled  and  altars  crown'd.  570 

For  her  their  vows,  for  her  their  viclim*,bleed, ' 

Long,  long  may  ahe  herself,  herself  succeed  ! 

Long,  e'er  from  us  and  her  loved  prince  bhe  part, 

'Tis  less  to  share  a  crown  than  share  her  heart." 

She  said  ;  and  now  the  smiling  surges  bore  574 

Her  best  loved  son  safe  to  herooty  shore. 

12 


90  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

But  sooner  may  we  count  the  unnumber'd  sand* 

Than  half  the  crowd  of  lifted  eyes  and  hands. 

The  mingled  smiles  with  floods  of  joyous  tears  ; 

The  prayers,  the  shouts,  when  Marlborough  appears.  580 

She  gazed  intemperate  on  the  hero's  face ; 

He  saw  and  bowed,  and  ran  to  her  embrace : 

But  what  she  said  a  mortal  strives  in  vain, 

'Tis  past  the  powers  of  numbers  to  explain. 

Such  was  the  moving  scene,  if  not  the  same,  585 

When  love  and  his  illustrious  consort  came, 

Th'  unrivall'd  partner  of  his  heart  and  fame ! 

Blow  soft,  ye  gentle  winds !  let  storms  retire, 

Ye  gentle  winds  ambrosial  sweets  respire  ! 

Soft  as  chaste  lovers'  sighs,  let  nature  bring  S90 

Th'  inverted  year,  and  raise  a  second  spring  ! 

On  foreign  shores  let  war  and  winter  rest, 

Our  happy  isle  of  Marlborough  possessed, 

With  peace  and  with  eternal  verdure  blessed. 

This  long  poem  would  admit  of  much  illustration  :  but  as  the 
transactions  it  records  are  all  in  common  history,  the  reader  can  find 
little  difficulty  in  furnishing  himself  with  the  necessary  elucidations. 
Instead  therefore  of  a  tissue  of  notes,  I  shall  give  a  general  account  of 
the  battle,  which  Mr.  Wesley  has  so  largely  sung : — 

The  battle  is  frequently  called  in  our  histories  the  Battle  ofHockstet; 
and  also  the  Battle  of  Blenheim  or  Pleytheim.  HOCKSTET  is  a  fortified 
town  of  Germany,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Danube,  about  twenty-nine 
miles  south-west  of  Ulm,  and  ten  west  by  south  of  Donawert. 

BLENHEIM  is  only  a  village  in  the  late  circle  of  Bavaria,  on  the 
north  of  the  Danube,  about  three  miles  east  of  Hockstet  and  thirty 
north-east  of  Ulm. 

This  famous  battle  was  fought  Aug.  13,  1704,  between  the  French 
and  Bavarians  on  the  one  side,  commanded  by  Marshal  Tallard,  and 
the  elector  of  Bavaria ;  and  the  ALLIES  on  the  other,  commanded  by 
the  duke  of  Marlborough  and  Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy.  The  armies 
were  nearly  equal;  the  French  had  about  sixty  thousand  veteran  troops, 
and  the  allies  about  fifty-two  thousand.  The  English,  Imperialists, 
Dutch,  and  Danes,  of  which  the  allied  army  was  composed,  were 
among  the  bravest  of  men,  and  had  been  accustomed  to  conquer.  The 
French  troops  were  those  whom  their  great  monarch  had  led  on-,to 
frequent  victory  ;  and  had  seldom  been  broken  in  the  field,  or  showed 
their  backs  to  an  enemy. 

Owing  to  some  gross  errors  committed  by  Marshal  Tallard,  of 
which  the  duke  of  Marlborough  knew  well  to  avail  himself,  the  French 
and  Bavarians  were  defeated  with  the  loss  of  nearly  forty  thousand 
men.  Thirteen  thousand  were  made  prisoners,  among  whom  were 
twelve  hundred  officers.  Ten  French  battalions  were  entirely  cut  to 
pieces  ;  thirty  squadrons  of  horse  and  dragoons  were  forced  into  the 
Danube,  most  of  whom  were  drowned.  Marshal  Tallard,  owing  to 
his  extreme  short-sightedness,  mistaking  a  battalion  of  the  Hessians, 
who  fought  in  the  pay  of  England,  for  his  own  troops,  rode  among 
them,  and  was  taken  prisoner.  Among  the  prisoners  were  several  of 
the  French  nobility.  The  Marquis  De  Montperaux,  general  of  the 
horse ;  De  Seppeville,  De  Silly,  and  De  la  Valiere,  major-generals  ; 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,   RECTOR  OP   EPWORTH.  91 

Monsieur  De  la  Massiliere,  St.  Pouange,  De  Legendais,  and  several 
others  of  distinction. 

The  ALLIES  gained  above  one  hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  twenty- 
four  mortars,  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  colours,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-one  standards,  seventeen  pair  of  kettle  drums,  three  thousand 
six  hundred  tents,  thirty-four  coaches,  three  hundred  laden  mules,  two 
bridges  of  boats,  fifteen  pontoons,  twenty-four  barrels,  and  eight  casks 
of  silver. 

They  lost  four  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  men  killed, 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  wounded,  and  two 
hundred  and  seventy-three  lost  or  made  prisoners ;  in  all  twelve 
thousand  two  hundred  and  eightv-three. 

By  this  battle  the  elector  of  Bavaria  lost  all  his  dominions,  and  the 
king  of  France  the  bravest  of  his  armies  ;  and  by  it  the  German  empire, 
previously  tottering  to  its  centre,  and  trembling  on  the  brink  of  total 
ruin,  was  freed  from  the  French,  and  suddenly  restored  to  its  political 
consequence.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  great  hero  under 
whose  skill  and  management  this  important  battle  was  gained  should 
be  loaded  with  honours  and  emoluments  by  those  in  whose  service  he 
had  conquered.  The  emperor  of  Germany  made  him  a  prince  of  the 
empire,  and  assigned  him  Mindelsheim  in  Suabia  for  his  principality : 
this  dignity  Queen  Anne  not  only  permitted  him  to  accept,  but  gave 
him  the  honour  and  manor  of  Woodstock,  and  the  hundred  of  Wootton 
to  him  and  his  heirs  for  ever ;  and  caused  a  palace  to  be  built  for  him 
in  Woodstock,  called  Blenheim-house;  which  stands  equally  a  monument 
of  his  victories,  of  British  munificence,  and  of  the  skill  of  the  artist  by 
whom  it  was  constructed. 

The  poem  itself  has  passed  its  day  of  criticism  ;  to  attempt  now  to 
review  its  merits  and  defects  would  be  lost  labour.  It  abounds  in  both ; 
it  has  many  verses  which  contain  beauties  of  the  very  first  order  :  -and 
it  has  others  which  are  both  lame  and  tame,  and  even  worse  than  prose. 
But  its  principal  defects  are  its  great  length,  which  is  not  sufficiently 
diversified  with  either  fiction  or  incident  to  make  it  impressive,  or  even 
entertaining;  and  the  very  inadequate  description  of  the  battle  which 
was  fought  with  extraordinary  obstinacy  on  both  sides,  and  especially 
on  the  part  of  thirteen  thousand  French  troops  which  were  posted  in 
Blenheim,  and  which  all  the  power  of  the  allies  could  not  dislodge, 
though  they  returned  again  and  again  to  the  attack,  and  sacrificed  a 
majority  of  their  infantry  before  this  paltry  village.  Even  when  J\larshal 
Tallard  and  the  elector  of  Bavaria  were  defeated,  the  brave  troops 
which  occupied  this  village  kept  their  ground  ;  and  when  after  the  total 
route  of  the  French  and  Bavarian  lines,  they  were  left  without  succour, 
and  there  was  not  a  general  officer  to  conduct  their  retreat,  they  seemed 
to  capitulate  like  a  strong  garrison,  rather  than  surrender  themselves 
prisoners  of  war.  Had  not  Mr.  Wesley's  prejudices  against  the 
French  been  carried  to  the  highest  pitch,  his  muse  must  have  found  in 
the  conduct  of  those  brave  troops  a  subject  equal  to  the  highest  flight 
of  her  strongest  pinion.  When  the  duke  of  Marlborough  visited  his 
illustrious  prisoner,  Marshal  Tallard,  after  the  battle,  the  marshal  paid 
hjrn  the  highest  compliment  by  saying,  My  lord,  you  have 


92  OF  MR.  VfESLEY'S  ANCESTORS, 

the  bravest  army  in  the  world:  which  compliment  the  duke  but  ill 
repaid  by  answering,  "  I  hope  your  excellency  will  except  those  by 
whom  they  were  vanquished."  What  a  subject  for  the  heroic  muse ! 
An  army  among  the  bravest  in  Europe,  led  on  by  commanders  worthy 
of  their  high  trust,  who  were  out-generalled  and  totally  defeated  by  the 
only  generals  and  troops  in  the  universe  which  were  capable  of  the  fact. 
Here  British  glory  might  have  been  relieved  and  emblazoned  by 
French  bravery. 

There  is  but  one.  couplet  in  this  poem,  on  which  I  shall  make  any 
remark ; — the  poet  describing  the  French  park  of  artillery  says, — 

''A  wall  of  cannons,  which  in  fire  and  smoke 
Their  master's  last  and  only  reason  spoke." 

Lines  229,  30. 

This  is  an  allusion  to  the  motto  which  Lewis  XJV.  placed  on  his 
brass  ordnance,  Ultima  ratio  Regum,  "  the  last  argument  of  kings  ;" 
or,  more  compressedly,  The  logic  of  kings.  Rightly  paraphrased 
thus  ; — Sic  volo  ;  sic  jubeo  :  stat  pro  ratione  voluntas — Thus  I  will ; 
thus  I  command :  and  my  will  shall  stand  in  the  place  of  reasonxand 
justice.  I  have  seen  some  of  these  very  cannon,  with  this  inscription. 
This  was  a  logic  to  which  the  French  have  often  resorted ;  and  a 
logic  with  the  rules  of  which  the  other  powers  of  Europe  are  not 
unacquainted. 

That  I  may  dismiss  Mr.  Wesley's  poetry  at  once,  there  is  a  piece 
of  exquisite  merit  intituled  Eupolis'  Hymn  to  the  Creator,  which  was 
made  either  by  him  or  his  daughter,  .Mrs.  Wright,  or  by  both  conjointly, 
which  I  shall  introduce  here,  after  making  a  few  remarks. 

1.  The  hymn  is  attributed  to  Eupolis,  an  Athenian  comic  poet,  who 
flourished  in  the  eighty-eighth  Olympiad,  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
years  before  the  incarnation  of  our  Lord.     He  was  killed  in  a  naval 
engagement  between  the  Athenians  and  Lacedemonians ;  and  his  death 
was  so  much  lamented  at  Athens,  that  they  made  a  law  that  no  poet 
should  ever  more  bear  arms.    He  is  said  to  have  written  about  twenty- 
four  comedies,  of  which  the  names  only  are  extant,  and  may  be  found 
in  Fabricius'  Bibl.  Graec.  vol.  i,  p.  761. 

A  work  called  Sententia,  printed  at  Basil,  1560,  octavo,  has  been 
attributed  to  him.  Of  the  present  poem  I  shall  speak  more  particularly 
at  the  conclusion. 

2.  This  poem  or  hymn  is  preceded  by  a  dialogue  between  Plato"  and 
Eupolis :  but  neither  it  nor  the  hymn  have  ever  yet  been  given  complete 
to  the  public.     In  the  present  copy,  there  are  eighty-four  whole  lines 
which  have  never  been  in  print  before ;  and  the  dialogue  is  here,  for 
the  first  time,  given  entire. 

3.  The  original  dialogue  and  hymn  now  lie  before  me ;  and  were 
written  partly  by  Mr.  Samuel  Wcslty  himself,  and  partly  by  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Wright.     The  dialogue  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Wesley,  and 
all  those  lines  marked  with  sections :  all  the  rest  is  in  the  handwriting 
of  Mrs.  Wright. 

4.  In  those   verses   written  by   Mrs.    Wright  there  are  frequent 
alterations  and  emendations  in  her  father's  hand  :  but  there  is  nothing 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,   RECTOR  OP   EPWORTH.  93 

of  this  kind  in  the  verses  written  by  him.  Hence,  one  might  be  led  to 
conclude  that  Mrs.  Wright  was  the  author  of  this  beautiful  hymn ;  but 
that  several  alterations  were  miMe  in  it  by  her  father,  who  has  added 
to  the  amount  of  thirty-four  /ine*V\yhich  are  here  marked  with  sections. 
Yet  the  profound  and  frequent  classical  allusions  argue  the  hand  of  a 
first  rate  scholar,  and  seem  to  be  far  beyond  what  might  be  reasonably 
expected  from  any  female  of  that  time. 

5.  The  lines  printed  here  for  the  first  time,  and  which  are  eighty- 
four  in  number,  are  distinguished  by  small  asterisks. 

6.  I  have  added  a  series  of  notes  on  the  more  difficult  expressions 
and  allusions,  which  otherwise  might  embarrass  common  readers. 

7.  In  the  critique  at  the  end  of  the  hymn,  without  noticing  Mrs. 
Wright,  I  have  joined  with  the  general  voice  in  attributing  the  hymn  to 
the  rector  of  Epworth. 


EUPOLIS  HIS  HYMN  TO  THE  CREATOR 
THE  (SUPPOSED*)  OCCASION. 


Part  of  a  (new*)  Dialogue  between  Plato  and  Eupolis  ;  the  rest  not 

extant. 

EUPOLIS.  —  But,  sir,  is  it  not  a  little  hard  that  you  should  banish  all 
our  fraternity  from  your  new  commonwealth  ?|  As  for  my  own  part, 
every  body  knows  that  I  am  but  one  of  the  minorum  gentium.  But 
what  hurt  has  father  Homer  done,  that  you  should  dismiss  him  among 
the  rest,  though  he  has  received  the  veneration  of  all  ages  :  and  Sala- 
mis  was  adjudged  to  us  by  the  Spartans,  on  the  authority  of  two  of  his 
verses  1  J  And  you  know  it  was  in  our  own  times  that  many  of  our 
citizens  saved  their  lives,  and  met  with  civil  treatment  in  Sicily,  after 

*  These  words  are  written  above  the  lines  in  the  original,  and  at  a  different  time, 
but  in  Mr.  S.  Wesley's  hand. 

t  Your  new  commonwealth.  —  This  refers  to  a  treatise  written  by  Plato,  divided 
into  ten  books,  and  called  IToXireio,  a  republic,  or  commonwealth  ;  in  the  third  and 
tenth,  books  of  which  he  shows  that  poets  pervert  truth,  cannot  teach  what  may 
rendej  the  people  happy,  and  tell  intolerable  tales  of  the  gods. 

J  Two  of  his  verses.  —  The  two  verses  referred  to  here  are  the  following:  — 


5'  ex  HaXa/xivoff  aysv  8wxa.i8sxa 
6"'  aywv,  »v'  A&TJVCUWV  irfTccvro 

ILIAD,  lib.  ii,  ver.  557. 

With  these  appear  the  Salaminian  bands 
(Whom  the  gigantic  Telamon  commands  :  ) 
In  twelve  black  ships  to  Troy  they  steer  their  course, 
And  with  the  great  Athenians  join  their  force. 

Xlrabo,  lib.  ix,  p.  394,  relates  that  the  Mtfarian*  having  claimed  Sdamis  as 
anciently  a  part  of  their  possessions;  the  Athenians  quoted  the  above  lines  to  show, 
that  in  the  time  of  Homer  the  island  belonged  to  Athens,  and  in  consequence  So/atm'i 
was  adjudged  to  the  Athenians. 


94  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

our  unfortunate  expedition  and  defeat  under  Nicias,  by  repeating  some 
verses  of  Euripides.* 

PLATO. — Much  may  be  done  to  save  one's  life.  I  doubt  not  I 
should  have  done  the  same,  though  only  to  have  regained  my  liberty 
when  Dionysius  sold  me  for  a  slave. |  But  those  are  only  occasional 
accidents,  and  exempt  cases,  which  are  nothing  to  the  first  settling  9 f 
a  state,  when  it  is  in  one's  power  to  mould  it  as  one  pleases.  As  for 
Homer,  to  be  plain,  the  better  poet,  the  more  danger ;  and  I  agree  in 
this  with  Aristotle,  whose  words,  to  which  the  poet  refers,  are,  4/sv<Jjj 
X^ysiv  us  Set,  that  the  blind  old  gentleman  certainly  lies  with  the  best 
grace  in  the  world.  But  a  lie,  handsomely  told,  debauches  the  taste 
and  morals  of  a  people,  and  fires  them  into  imitation.  Beside,  his 
tales  of  the  gods  are  intolerable,  and  derogate  to  the  highest  degree 
from  the  dignity  of  the  Divine  nature. 

EUPOLIS. — Not  to  enter  at  present  into  the  merits  of  that  case,  do 
you  really  think,  sir,  that  these  faults  are  inseparable  from  poetry  ;  and 
that  the  praises  of  the  ONE  SUPREME  may  not  be  sung  without  any 
intermixture  of  them;  allowing  us  only  the  common  benefit  of  metaphor, 
and  other  figures,  which  you  do  not  blame  even  in  the  orators  ? 

PLATO. — An  ill  habit  is  hard  to  break :  and  I  must  own  I  hardly 
ever  saw  any  thing  of  that  nature ;  and  should  be  glad  to  see  you  or 
any  other  attempt,  and  succeed  in  it:  on  which  condition  I  would 
willingly  exempt  you  from  the  fate  of  your  brother  poets. 

EUPOLIS. — I  am  far  from  pretending  to  be  a  standard  :  how  I  shall 
succeed  in  it  I  do  not  know,  but  am  sure  I  shall  attempt  it,  and  wait 
upon  you  with  it. 

PLATO. — You  know  the  academy  will  be  always  pleased  to  see  you, 
and  doubly  so  on  this  occasion. 

*  Defeat  under  Nicias. — This  was  at  Syracuse,  where,  after  doing  prodigies  of 
valour,  the  Athenian  army  and  navy  were  totally  destroyed  ;  most  were  slain  in 
battle,  and  the  generals  and  prisoners  put  to  cruel  deaths.  Diodorus  Siculus  says, 
some  were  saved  who  understood  literature  and  arts ;  and,  perhaps,  many  of  them 
were  those  who,  from  repeating  some  of  the  verses  of  Euripides,  were  permitted  to 
live. 

•f  Dionysius  sold  me  for  a  slave. — Plato  visited  Sicily  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age, 
and  having  got  an  interview  with  Dionysius  the  tyrant,  discoursed  with  him  on  the 
security  and  happiness  of  virtue,  and  the  miseries  attending  injustice  and  oppression. 
The  tyrant  perceiving  that  the  philosopher's  discourse  waslevelled  against  the  vices 
and  cruelties  of  his  reign,  dismissed  him  from  his  presence  with  great  displeasure ; 
and  formed  a  design  against  his  life.  By  the  assistance  of  Dion,  the  king's  brother- 
in-law,  one  of  Plato's  pupils,  he  was  got  on  board  of  the  vessel  that  brought  over 
Pollis,  a  delegate  from  Sparta,  who  was  then  returning  into  Greece.  Dionysius 
being  informed  of  this,  got  a  promise  from  Pollis,  that  he  would  either  take  away 
the  philosopher's  life,  or  on  the  passage  sell  him  for  a  slave.  Pollis  accordingly  sold 
him  in  the  island  of  Egina  for  twenty  mina,  equal  to  64J.  1  Is.  Sd. :  but  he  was  soon 
redeemed  by  Anicerres,  an  Athenian  philosopher,  who  paid  for  his  ransom  thirty 
mina,  or  84/.  10j.  sterling. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OP   EPWORTH.  96 


EUPOLIS  HIS  HYMN  TO  THE  CREATOR. 

AUTHOR  of  BEING!  SOURCE  of  LIGHT! 
With  unfading  beauties  bright. 
Fulness,  goodness,  rolling  round 
Thy  own  fair  orb,  without  a  bound. 

Whether  thee  thy  suppliants  call  5 

TRUTH,  or  GOOD,  or  ONE,  or  ALL, 
El,  or  JAO,  thee  we  hail, 
Essence  that  can  never  fail ; 
Grecian  or  Barbaric  name, 

Thy  steadfast  being  still  the  same.  10 

Thee,  when  morning  greets  the  skies 
With  rosy  cheeks  and  humid  eyes ; 
Thee,  when  sweet  declining  day 
Sinks  in  purple  waves  away ; 

Thee  will  I  sing,  O  parent  Jove!  IS 

And  teach  the  world  to  praise  and  love ! 

Yonder  azure  vault  on  high, 
Yonder  blue,  low,  liquid  sky ; 
Earth  on  its  firm  basis  placed, 

And  with  circling  waves  embraced,  20 

All-creating  power  confess, 
All  their  mighty  Maker  bless. 

Thou  shak'st  all  nature  with  thy  nod  ; 
Sea,  earth,  and  air,  confess  thee  God. 

Yet  does  thy  powerful  hand  sustain  25 

Both  earth  and  heaven ;  both  firm  and  mam. 

Scarce  can  our  daring  thought  arise 
To  thy  pavilion  in  the  skies : 

Lane  1.  Source  of  light. — This  was  the  body  which  the  Platonists  gave  to  the 
Supreme  Being. 

Line  6.  Or  one. — Plutarch  says,  that  the  ancients  termed  God  Thou  who  art  ONE  ; 
and  that  it  was  from  this  that  the  term  Jipollo  came :  for  AroXXwv,  Apollo,  signifies 
He  who  is  not  MANY,  from  a,  privative,  and  iro\v$,  many;  because  God  is  only  ONE, 
without  mixture,  and  without  composition. 

Line  6.  Or  all. — Alluding  to  the  word  ITav,  Pan. — See  on  line  75. 

Line  7.  EL — El,  Thou  art,  the  famous  word  that  was  engraved  on  the  frontispiece 
of  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi,  on  which  Plutarch  has  written  an  express  treatise. 
There  is  a  consistency  here,  which  is  not  often  met  with  in  Heathenism ;  for  there 
was  the  strictest  propriety  that  El,  Thou  art,  should  be  engraved  on  the  temple 
dedicated  to  the  AiroXXwx,  A-potton,  He  whose  being  is  simple,  indivisible.  Plutarch, 
who  travelled  into  Egypt,  to  get  information  on  important  subjects,  doubtless  learned 
the  true  meaning  of  this  word  there.  Moses  had  long  before  proclaimed  the  Supreme 
Being  among  that  people,  by  the  >-ery  expressive  word  mnN  eheyth,  I  am,  or  I  shall 
be,  Lxod.  iii,  14,  from  which  the  Greek  appellative  probably  came. 

IAO. — The  same  as  mm  Yeve,  or  Jehovah.  Among  the  Greeks,  Iij,  In,  Ie,  It,  was 
frequent  in  their  invocations  to  the  gods;  which  epithet  comes  manifestly  from  the 
Hebrew  rp  Jah,  or  Yeh,  a  name  often  accompanying  mm,  Jevf,  Yeveh,  or  Yehovah, 
in  the  Sacred  Writings.  Hence  the  Jove  and  Jupiter  of  the  Romans,  Jupiter,  (q.  d. 
Jmans  Pater,  "The  helping  Father.' )  This  Jao,  or  Yeve,  mm  Jehovah,  is  here 
termed,  line  9,  Barbaric  name,  because  the  Hebrews  were  styled  Barbarians  by  the 
Greeks.  The  word  lAfl,  loo,  is  frequently  found  on  those  Egyptian  amulets  called 
abraxas,  abrasaxas. 

Lane  12.   With  rosy  cheeks. — This  and  the  following  lines  are  highly  poetic. 

Line  13.  Yondtr  blue,  low,  liquid  sky. — There  is  a  most  happy  combination  of 
liquids  here,  which  express  the  subject  of  it  in  a  most  delicate  manner. 

Line  19.  Earth  on  its  firm  basis  placed. — It  was  a  general  opinion  among  the 
ancients  that  the  earth  was  a  vast  extended  plane,  encircled  by  the  ocean. 


96  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Nor  can  Plato's  self  declare, 

The  bliss,  the  joy,  the  rapture  there.  30 

*  This  we  know ;  or  if  we  dream, 

*  'Tis  at  least  a  pleasing  theme ; 
Barren  above  thou  dost  not  reign, 
But  circled  with  a  glorious  train ; 

The  sons  of  God,  the  sons  of  light,  35 

Ever  joying  in  thy  sight: 

(For  thee  their  silver  harps  are  strung,) 

Ever  beauteous,  ever  young : 

Angelic  forms  their  voices  raise, 

And  thre'  heaven's  arch  resound  thy  praise !  40 

The  feather'd  souls  that  swiin  the  air, 
And  bathe  hi  liquid  ether  there ; 
The  lark  precentor  of  their  choir, 
Leading  them  higher  still  and  higher, 

Listen  and  learn  the  angelic  notes,  45 

Repeating  in  their  warbling  throats: 
And  e'er  to  soft  repose  they  go, 
Teach  themio  their  lords  below. 
On  the  green  turf  their  mossy  nest, 

The  ev'ning  anthem  swells  their  breast :  50 

Thus  like  thy  golden  chain  on  high, 
Thy  praise  unites  the  earth  and  sky. 

Sole  from  sole  thou  mak'st  the  sun 
On  his  burning  axles  run : 

The  stars  like  dust  around  him  fly,  55 

And  strew  the  area  of  the  sky : ' 

*  He  drives  so  swift  his  race  above, 
Mortals  can't  perceive  him  move : 

'    So  smooth  his  course,  oblique  or  strait, 

Line  33.  Barren  above  thou  dost  not  reign,  Sac. — Plato  held  that  there  were  three 
hypostases  in  the  Divine  nature.  The  first  he  termed  To  Ov,  The  Being  or  Self- 
existent,  and  To  Eu,  The  One — The  Jllone.  The  second  he  termed  vows,  mind,  or 
intellect.  And  the  third  ^•u\n,  soul,  or  ^u^j?  TOV  Koapov,  the  soul  of  the  world.  The  first 
he  oftens  terms  To  Aya6ov,  the  Good,  or  Essential  goodness ;  to  which  the  Apostle 
seems  to  refer  1  Pet.  iii,  13,  Jlnd  who  shall  harm  you,  cav  TOV  AyaBov  /»ipirra<  yirtvOt, 
if  ye  become  imitators  of  the  Good  Being.  The  second  he  terms  Aoyoj,  The  WORD  or 
Reason,  to  which  St.  John  certainly  refers,  John  i,  1,  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word, 
Aoyos,  &c,  but  the  Logos  of  the  evangelist  is  evidently  different  from  that  of  the 
philosopher :  for  Plato  does  not  say  as  John  does,  KUI  Qeos  rjv  o  Aoyos,  and  God  was 
the  Logos.  From  this  vovs  or  intellect  Plato  says  the  To  Ov,  Supreme  Being,  struck 
out  innumerable  spirits  of  inferior  order:  which  is  nearly  tantamount  to  God's 
creating  all  things  by  Christ  Jesus. 

Line  51.  Thus  like  thy  golden  chain. — The  ancients  fabled  that  Jupiter  had  a 
cAatn  of  gold,  which  he  could  at  any  time  let  down  from  heaven,  and  by  it  draw  the 
earth  and  all  its  inhabitants  to  himself.  See  a  fine  passage  to  this  effect  in  Homer, 
Iliad  viii,  18-27.  By  thiscAatn  the  poets  pointed  out  the  union  between  heaven  and 
earth ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  government  of  the  universe,  by  the  extensive  chain  of 
causes  and  effects.  It  was  termed  golden,  to  point  out  not  only  the  beneficence  of  the 
Divine  Providence,  but  also  that  infinite  philanthropy  of  God  by  which  he  influences, 
and  by  which  he  attracts  all  mankind  to  himself.  See  my  note  on  John  xii,  32. 

Line  53.  Source  of  light,  instead  of  Sole  from  sole.  (Mr.  J.  Wesley's  alteration.) 
The  sun  being  sole  or  alone  in  the  system,  as  God  is  in  the^universe  :  but  still  this 
beautiful  representation  of  the  Deity  derives  his  being  and  continuance  from  God ; 
though  he  be  sole  below,  he  is  from  him  who  is  sole  above. 

Line  55.  The  stars  like  dust  around  himfiy. — Some  of  the  ancients  and  some  of  the 
moderns  have  held  the  opinion  that  stars,  planets,  and  comets  have  been  fragments 
broken  off  from  the  solar  orb. 

Line  59.  So  smooth  his  course,  oblique  or  strait. — This  is  an  allusion  to  the  sun's 
apparent  course  in  the  Zodiac,  which  appears  to  be  oblique  between  the  tropics. 
But  all  astronomers  know  that  this  is  occasioned  by  the  earth's  motion  in  its  orbit. 


8AMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EFWORTH.  97 

Oly input  shakes  not  with  his  weight.  60 

As  the  queen  of  solemn  night, 
Fills  at  his  vase  her  orb  of  light, 
Imparted  lustre:  thus  we  see, 
The  solar  virtue  shines  by  thee ! 

*  Phoebus  borrows  from  thy  beams  65 

*  His  radiant  locks  and  golden  streams, 

*  Whence  thy  warmth  and  light  disperse, 

*  To  cheer  the  grateful  universe. 
Eiresione !  we'll  no  more 

For  its  fancied  aid  implore  ;  70 

Since  bright  oil  and  wool  and  urine 
And  life-sustaining  bread  are  thine ; 

*  Wine  that  sprightly  mirth  supplies, 

*  Noble  wine  for  sacrifice ! 

Thy  herbage,  O  great  Pan,  sustains  75 

The  flocks  that  graze  our  Attic  plains. 
The  olive  with  fresh  verdure  crown'd 
Rises  pregnant  from  the  ground, 

*  Our  native  plant,  our  wealth,  our  pride, 

*  To  more  than  half  the  world  denied.  80 
At  Jove's  command  it  shoots  and  springs, 

And  a  thousand  blessings  brings. 

Minerva  only  is  thy  mind, 
Wisdom  and  bounty  to  mankind. 

The  fragrant  thyme,  the  blooming  rose,  85 

Herb,  and  flow'r,  and  shrub  that  grows 
On  Thessalian  Trempe's  plain, 
Or  where  the  rich  Sabeans  reign, 
That  treat  the  taste,  or  smell,  or  sigh^ 

For  food,  for  medicine,  or  delight ;  90 

Planted  by  thy  guardian  care, 
Spring,  and  smile,  and  flourish  there.  • 

*  Jllcinoan  gardens  in  their  pride, 

*  With  blushing  fruit  from  thee  supplied. 

Line  69.  Eiresione !  we'll  no  more. — The  Greek  word  Eipceuuvi?  Eiresione,  means  a 
kind  of  telesm  used  by  the  Athenians  by  the  command  of  the  Oracle  of  Apollo,  to 
drive  away/amme.  It  was  an  olive  branch  rolled  round  with  wool,  on  which  were 
hung  ripe  fruits,  a  pot  of  honey,  a  bottle  of  oil,  &c,  in  a  word,  the  different  species  of 
fruits  and  necessaries  of  life  peculiar  to  the  four  seasons  of  the  year :  and  one  of  these 
was  hung  up  at  the  door  of  each  house.  Suidas  gives  the  derivation  of  the  name 
thus: — Ejptdiwvn  it  Xeytrai  ita.  ra  tpia,  "it  was  called  Eiresione,  because'  of  the  wool," 
which  the  Greeks  call  tipiov.  See  also  Plutarch,  and  a  quotation  from  Potter's 
Grecian  Antiquities,  vol.  i,  p.  395. 

Line  75.  Thy  herbage,  O  great  Pan. — The  Mendes  of  the  Egyptians  was  the  Pan 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans ;  and  signified  him  whose  nature  is  infinite,  and  whose 
government  is  universal,  from  irav,  all,  because  he  is  the  Author  and  Governor  of  all 
things.  In  process  of  time  the  pure  ideas  which  the  Greeks  had  entertained  of  the 
Divine  nature  became  obliterated,  and  the  'O  /uyaj  Ilav,  The  great  Pan,  degenerated 
among  the  Romans,  &c,  into  a  monster,  half  man,  half  goat! 

Line  77.  The  olive  with  fresh  verdure  crowned. — Neptune  and  Minerva,  called  also 
Athena,  are  said  to  have  contended  who  should  give  a  name  to  the  new  city  which 
Cecrops  had  built  It  was  at  last  agreed  that  whoever  should  produce  the  most 
beneficial  gift  should  give  the  city  its  name.  Neptune  struck  the  earth  with  liis 
trident,  and  a  horse  sprung  up.  Minerva  caused  an  olive  to  spring  from  the  ground  : 
she  conquered,  and  called  the  city  after  her  own  name, . ///K  ,i«-  or  Athens. 

Line  83.  Minerva  only  is  thy  mind. — Minerva  is  fabled  to  have  sprung  out  of  the 
brain  of  Jupiter  full  grown  and  completely  armed.  A  fine  mythologic  representation 
of  the  nature  of  icisdom. 

Line  93.  Jllcinoan  gardens. — Alcinous  was  the  sou  of  JV*ou«//*oiw,  and  king  of  the  Phe- 
acians,  in  the  island  of  Corcyra.  He  was  so  famous  a  horticulturist,  that  his  gardens 
and  fruil  became  proverbial.  He  is  celebrated  by  Homer,  Pire-t/,  Ovid,  and  others. 

13 


98  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

O  ye  nurses  of  soft  dreams !  96 

Reedy  brooks  and  winding  streams 

*  By  our  tuneful  race  admir'd, 

*  Whence  we  think  ourselves  inspired : 
Or  murm'ring  o'er  the  pebbles  sheen, 
Or  sliding  thro'  the  meadows  green; 
Or  where  thro'  matted  sedge  ye  creep, 
Travelling  to  your  parent  deep, 
Sound  his  praise  by  whom  ye  rose, 
That  sea  which  neither  ebbs  nor  flows. 

O  ye  immortal  woods  and  groves,  105 

§  Which  the  enraptured  student  loves : 

Beneath  whose  venerable  shade, 
§  For  learned  thought,  and  converse  made : 

*  §  Or  in  the  fam'd  Lycean  walks, 

*  §  Or  where  my  heavenly  Master  talks:  110 
§  Where  Hecadem,  old  hero  lies, 

»  §  Whose  shrine  is  shaded  from  the  skies, 

And  thro'  the  gloom  of  silent  night, 
Project  from  far  your  trembling  light. 

You  whose  roots  descend  as  low,  115 

As  high  in  air  your  branches  grow, 
Your  leafy  arms  to  heaven  extend, 
Bend  your  heads !  in  homage  bend ! 
Cedars  and  pines  that  wave  above, 
And  the  oak  beloved  of  Jove.  120 

Omen,  monster,  prodigy ! 
Or  nothing  are,  or  Jove  from  thee ! 
Whether  various  nature's  play, 
Or  she  renvers'd  thy  will  obey ; 

And  to  rebel  man  declare,  125 

Famine,  plague,  or  wasteful  war. 
Atheists  laugh,  and  dare  despise, 
The  threatening  vengeance  of  the  skies : 
While  the  pious  on  his  guard, 

Line  97.  By  our  tuneful  race  admired. — That  is,  the  poets. 

Line  102.  Travelling  to  your  parent  deep. — The  rivers  are  called  by  the  poets  the 
thousand  daughters  of  Oceanus. 

Line  109.  Or  in  the  famed  Lycean  walks. — The  Lyceum  was  a  celebrated  school  at 
Athens,  where  Aristotle  taught  and  explained  his  philosophy.  It  was  composed  of 
porticoes  and  trees  planted  in  the  quincunx  form,  among  which  the  philosophers 
disputed  walking;  hence  called  ntpuranp-ticoi,  Peripatetics;  from  irtpi,  about,  and 
xarto,  J  walk.  The  followers  of  Aristotle  were  called  the  Peripatetics  from  this 
circumstance ;  and  the  followers  of  Plato  were  called  Academics,  from  the  place 
called  the  Academy,  where  Plato  gave  his  lectures.  See  the  note  on  ver.  111. 

Line  111.  Where  Hecadem,  old  hero  lies. — Hecademus,  or  Academus,  was  a  famous 
hero  among  the  Athenians  in  the  time  of  Theseus.  He  had  a  plot  of  ground  about  a 
thousand  paces  from  the  city,  which  he  bequeathed  to  the  public  at  his  death.  It 
was  in  this  place  that  Plato  taught  his  philosophy ;  and  as  the  place  .got  the  name 
of  Academy,  from  its  ancient  moner ;  so  Plato's  scholars  had  the  name  of  Academics 
from  the  place.  This  is  the  origin  of  our  word  academy.  The  grounds  of  the  Academy 
formed  the  burying  place  of  the  principal  heroes  and  philosophers  of  Athens. 

Line  1 1 5.  You  whose  roots,  fyc. — Virgil  speaks  this  of  the  oak — 

Qu<E  quantum  vertice  ad  auras 
JElhtrias,  tantum  radice  in  Tartara  tcndit. 

GEOHG.  ii,  ver.  291. 

High  as  his  topmost  boughs  to  heaven  ascend, 

So  low  his  roots  to  hell's  dominions  tend.  DRTDEX. 


SAMUEr.  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  99 

Undismay'd  is  still  prepared :  1 30 

Life  or  death  his  mind  's  at  rest, 
Since  what  you  send  must  needs  be  best. 

*  What  cannot  thy  almighty  wit 

*  Effect,  or  influence,  or  permit ; 

*  Which  leaves  free  causes  to  their  will,  135 

*  Yet  guides  and  overrules  them  still ! 

*  The  various  minds  of  men  can  twine, 

*  And  work  them  to  thy  own  design : 

*  For  who  can  sway  what  boasts  \\afree, 

*  Or  rule  a  commonwealth,  but  thee  1  140 

*  Our  stubborn  will  thy  word  obeys, 

*  Our  folly  shows  thy  wisdom's  praise: 

*  As  skilful  steersmen  make  the  wind, 

*  Tho'  rough,  subservient  to  mankind. 

*  A  tempest  drives  them  safe  to  land ;  1 45 

*  With  joy  they  hail  and  kiss  the  sand. 

*  So  when  our  angry  tribes  engage, 

*  And  dash  themselves  to  foam  and  rage, 

*  The  demagogues,  the  winds  that  blow, 

*  Heave  and  toss  them  to  and  fro  ;  1 50 

*  Silence  !  is  by  thee  proclaim'd, 

*  The  tempest  falls,  the  winds  are  tam'd : 

*  At  thy  word  the  tumults  cease, 

*  And  all  is  calm,  and  all  is  peace ! 

*  Monsters  that  obscurely  sleep  1 55 

*  In  the  bottom  of  the  deep, 

*  Or  when  for  air  or  food  they  rise 

*  Spout  the  JEgean  to  the  skies  ; 

*  Know  thy  voice,  and  own  thy  hand, 

*  Obsequious  to  their  lord's  command  ;  !80 

*  As  the  waves  forget  to  roar, 

*  And  gently  kiss  the  murmuring  shore. 

No  evil  can  from  thee  proceed, 
'Tis  only  suffered,  not  decreed : 

Line  147.  So  when  our  angry  tribes  engage. — The  ideas  in  this  and  the  following 
seven  lines  are  the  same  with  those  in  the  following  passage  of  VIRGIL,  £.KTID  i, 
ver.  148. 

Jlc  veluti  magno  in  populo  cum  scepe  coorta  est 
Seditio,  saevitque  animis  ignobile  vulgus  ; 
Janque  faces  et  saxa  volant,  furor  artna  ministrat  : 
Turn  piftate  graven  ac  merilis  si  forte  virum  quern 
Conspexere,  silent :  arrectisque  auribus  atlstant  : 
ttle  regit  dictis  animos,  et  pectora  mulcet. 

As  when  sedition  fires,  th'  ignoble  crowd, 

And  the  wild  rabble  storms  and  thirsts  for  blood ; 

Of  stones  and  brands  a  mingled  tempest  flies, 

With  all  the  sudden  arms  which  rage  supplies. 

If  some  grave  sire  appears  amidst  the  strife, 

In  morals  strict,  and  innocence  of  life, 

All  stand  attentive ;  while  the  sage  controls 

Their  wrath,  and  calms  the  tumult  of  their  souls. 

PITT. 

Line  158.  Spout  the  JEgean  to  the  skies. — The  ^Egean  sea  is  properly  a  part  of  the 
Jtiedilerranean  near  to  Greece,  parting  Europe  from  Asia.  It  is  commonly  called  th* 


100  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

As  darkness  is  not  from  the  sun  165 

Nor  mount  the  shades  till  he  is  gone, 

Then  night  obscene  does  straight  arise 

From  Erebus,  and  fills  the  skies ; 

Fantastic  forms  the  air  invade, 

Daughters  Q{  nothing  and  of  shade.  170 

*  When  wars  and  pains  afflict  mankind, 

*  'Tis  for  a  common  good  designed, 

*  As  tempests  sweep  and  clean  the  air, 

*  And  all  is  healthy,  all  is  fair. 

*  Good,  and  true,  and  fair,  and  right,  176 

*  Are  thy  choice  and  thy  delight. 

*  Government  thou  didst  ordain, 

*  Equal  justice  to  maintain : 

*  Thus  thou  reign'st  enthron'd  in  state, 

*  Thy  -will  is  just,  thy  will  is  fate.  180 

*  The  good  can  never  be  unblest, 

*  While  impious  minds  can  never  rest ; 

*  A  plague  within  themselves  they  find, 

*  Each  other  plague,  and  all  mankind. 

*  Can  we  forget  thy  guardian  care,  185 

*  Slow  to  punish,  prone  to  spare. 

*  Or  heroes  by  thy  bounty  rais'd 

*  To  eternal  ages  prais'd  ? 

*  Codrus,  who  Athens  lov'd  so  well 

*  He  for  her  devoted  fell ;  190 

*  Theseus  who  made  us  madly  free, 

*  And  dearly  bought  our  liberty  ; 

*  Whom  our  grateful  tribes  repaid, 

*  With  murdering  him  who  brought  them  aid  ; 

Line  165.  As  darkness  is  not  from  the  sun. — Here  is  a  simple  argument  taken  from 
an  incontestable  matter  of  fact,  that  most  forcibly  explodes  the  horrible  doctrine, 
that  God  has  willed  and  decreed  evil.  God  is  the  fountain  of  good,  andj  is  essentially 
good  ;  therefore  evil  cannot  come  from  him.  This  is  abbolutely  impossible,  as 
nothing  can  give  what  it  does  not  possess.  But  evil  does  exist:  then  it  is  suffered, 
not  decreed.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  darkness  :  but  this  cannot  be  from  the  sun  ; 
for  he  is  a  body  of  light,  and  there  is  no  darkness  in  him.  Darkness  is  not  from  the 
sun ; — sin  and  evil  are  not  from  GOD. 

Line  168.  From  Erebus,  and  Jills  the  skies. — Erebus  in  fable  is  one  of  the  infernal 
gods ;  supposed  to  be  father  of  Woz,  or  Night,  whom  he  begot  of  Chaos  or  .Vo- 
thing.  The  word  is  evidently  corrupted  from  the  Hebiew  y\y  Ereb,Gen.  i,  8, 
which  there  signifies  the  evening,  or  twilight,  from  the  word  arab,  10  mingle,  because 
twilight  is  a  mixture  of  light  and  darkness. 

Line  ISO.  Thy  will  is  fate. — The  word  fate  has  been  grossly  misapplied  and  abused  : 
it  comes  from  the  supine  fatum,  spoken ;  of  the  verb  fari,  to  speak,  and  signifies  in 
reference  to  God,  what  he  has  spoken  ;  and  when  rightly  understood,  in  reference  to 
his  government  of  the  world  and  treatment  of  man,  what  he  has  promised  or  threatened 
to  do  in  his  revealed  word. 

Line  189.  Codrus,  who  Athens  loved  so  wett. — Codrus  was  the  last  king  of  Athens. 
The  Peloponnesians  being  at  war  with  the  Athenians,  were  told  by  the  oracle  that 
they  should  gain  the  victory,  provided  they  did  not  slay  the  Athenian  king.  Codrus, 
hearing  this,  disguised  himself,  and  went  into  the  Peloponnesian  camp ;  where, 
offering  some  insult  to  the  soldiers,  he  was  slain,  and  in  the  battle  the  Athenians  got 
the  victory. — Paterculus. 

Line  191.  Theseus  who  made  us  madly  free. — Theseus  was  a  famous  hero  of  anti- 
quity, the  son  of  JEgeus,  king  of  Athens.  He  is  said  to  have  united  the  twelve  cities 
of  Attica,  and  to  have  founded  a  republic  there  about  1236  years  before  the  Christian 
era.  Being  driven  from  his  throne  of  Athens  by  the  usurper  Mnestheus,  he  fled  to 
Lycomedes,  king  of  Scyros  (an  island  in  the  -<Egean  sea,)  for  protection ;  but  the  per- 
fidious king  caused  him  to  be  thrown  from  a  precipice,  and  dashed  to  pieces.^-* 
Plutarch. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR    OF   EPIVORTH.  101 

*  To  tyrants  made  an  easy  prey,  195 

*  Who  would  not  godlike  kings  obey. 

*  Tyrants  and  kings  from  God  proceed, 

*  THOSE permited, — THESE  decreed. 

Thou  break'st  the  haughty  Persian's  pride, 
Which  did  both  sea  and  land  divide.  200 

Their  shipwrecks  strew'd  th'  Eubcean  wave, 
At  Marathon  they  found  a  grave. 
O  ye  bless'd  Greeks  who  there  expired  ! 
With  noble  emulation  fir'd ! 

*  Your  trophies  will  not  let  me  rest,  205 

*  Which  swell'd,  Themistocles,  thy  breast, 
What  shrines,  what  altars,  shall  we  raise, 
To  secure  your  endless  praise  ? 

Or  need  we  monuments  supply, 

To  rescue  what  can  never  die  ?  210 

*  Godlike  mef\ !  how  firm  they  stood ! 

*  Moating  their  country  with  their  blood. 

And  yet  a  greater  hero  far, 
Unless  great  Socrates  could  err, 

*  §  (Though  whether  human  or  divine,  215 

*  §  Not  e'en  his  genius  could  define) 
§  Shall  rise  to  bless  some  future  day, 

§  And  teach  to  live,  and  teach  to  pray. 

Line  200.  Which  did  both  sea  and  land  divide. — Xerxes  may  be  said  to  have 
divided  the  sea  when  he  threw  a  bridge  of  boats  over  the  Hellespont,  now  the 
Dardanelles.  He  may  be  said  to  have  divided  the  land,  when,  according  to  some 
historians,  he  cut  a  passage  for  his  fleet  through  mount  Athos. 

Line  202.  Jit  Marathon  they  found  a  grave. — The  famous  battle  of  Marathon,  (a 
place  about  ten  miles  from  Athens,)  between  the  Persians  and  Athenians,  was 
fought  in  the  490th  year  before  Christ.  The  Athenians  had  only  10,000  men,  and 
the  Persians  110,000  :  yet  the  Greeks  defeated  them,  and  slew  6,400  men,  while 
themselves  lost  only  190.  The  Persians  fled  to  their  ships:  but  the  conquerers 
took,  burnt,  or  destroyed  the  major  part  of  them,  the  rest  having  effected  their  es- 
cape by  dint  of  rowing.  MUtiades  that  day  commanded  the  Athenian  troops.  As 
soon  as  the  memorable  battle  was  ended,  Philippidas  the  courier  formed  the  project 
of  carrying  the  news  to  the  magistrates  of  Athens  :  without  quitting  his  armour, 
he  ran,  arrived,  announced  the  glad  tidings,  and  spent  with  fatigue,  he  fell  dead  at 
their  feet!  See  Herodotus,  in  Erato — and  Lucian,  Iltpi  row  Uraia/iaras. 

Line  205.  Tour  trophies  will  not  let  me  rest. — After  the  battle  of  Marathon,  men- 
tioned above,  the  Athenians  raised  monuments  on  the  field,  to  those  noble  Athenian* 
who  had  so  bravely  defended  their  country ;  and  in  the  spaces  between  them,  tro- 
phies were  erected,  composed  of  the  Persian  arms.  Themislocles,  when  very  young, 
was  observed  to  be  very  pensive,  and  often  to  deny  himself  both  sleep  and  necessary 
food.  Being  asked  the  reason,  he  gave  for  answer  if  KaOcvitiv  avrov  OVK  twij  TO  rov 
Mt\Ttai<n>  rpowcuov.  "  That  the  trophies  of  MUtiades  would  not  suft'er  him  to  sleep ;" 
thereby  intimating,  that  he  had  an  insatiable  desire  to  imitate  the  military  exploits 
of  that  famous  Athenian  general.  See  Plutarch, 

Lane  211,212.  Godlike  men  I  how  firm  they  stood! — How  thtse  two  verses  espe- 
cially, came  to  be  left  out  of  the  printed  copies  of  this  poem,  I  cannot  conceive ;  but 
any  thing  more  grand  or  noble  on  such  a  subject,  never  saw  the  sun.  "  Moot"  sig- 
nifies a  deep  ditch,  round  a  castle,  &c,  and  filled  with  water,  in  order  to  render  the 
approach  of  an  enemy  more  difficult 

Line  2 16.  Not  e'en  his  genius. — This  alludes  to  the  dmnon  of  Socrates,  or  attend- 
ant spirit,  which  he  said  attended  him  always,  and  advertised  him  every  morning, 
of  the  evils  to  which  he  should  be  exposed  in  the  course  of  the  day.  The  late  Pro- 
ftstor  Person  showed  me  a  very  ancient  MS.  copy  of  Plato's  works,  in  which  there 
were  marginal  scholia  :  and  one  on  this  very  subject  stated  that  "  what  Socrates 
called  his  daman  was  a  tingling  in  the  ears.n 


OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

§  Come,  unknown  instructor,  come, 

§  Our  leaping  hearts  shall  make  thee  room  ;  220 

§  Thon  with  Jove  our  vows  shalt  share  ; 

§  Of  Jove  and  thee  we  are  the  care. 

O  Father,  King  !  whose  heavenly  face 
Shines  serene  on  all  thy  race  ; 

We  thy  magnificence  adore,  225 

And  thy  well-known  aid  implore  : 
Not  vainly  for  thy  help  we  call  ; 
Nor  can  we  want,  for  thouartALL  ! 

*  May  thy  care  preserve  our  state, 

*  Ever  virtuous,  ever  great  !  230 

*  Thou  our  splendour  and  defence, 

*  Wars  and  factions  banish  thence  ! 

*  Thousands  of  Olympiads  pass'd, 
"May  its  fame  and  glory  last  ! 

FSVOITO, 


After  taking  so  much  pains  with  this  poem,  apd  producing  it  entire, 
which  was  never  done  before,  some  of  my  readers  will  naturally  expect 
that!  should  either  insert  or  refer  to  the  Greek  original.  Could  I  have 

Line  218.  And  teach  to  live,  and  teach  to  pray.  —  Here  is  a  reference  to  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  dialogue  between  Socrates  and  Alcibiades  concerning  prayer,  viz  : 

SOCR.  —  You  see  therefore  that  it  is  not  safe  for  you  to  go  and  pray  to  God,  lest 
your  addresses  should  happen  to  be  impious,  and  God  should  wholly  reject  your 
sacrifice.  It  is  necessary  therefore  that  you  should  delay  till  you  have  learned  what 
disposition  you  ought  to  be  in  both  toward  God  and  man. 

ALCIB.  —  But  how  long  will  it  be,  O  Socrates  !  and  who  is  this  instructor  ? 

SOCR.  —  It  is  he  who  careth  for  you.  But  as  Minerva  removed  the  mists  from  the 
eyes  of  Diomed,  that  he  might  distinguish  gods  from  men  ;  so  must  he  first  remove 
from  your  soul  the  mist  that  surrounds  it  ;  and  then  furnish  those  helps  by  which 
you  shall  be  able  to  distinguish  good  from  evil. 

ALCIB.  —  Let  him  remove  that  mist,-or  whatever  else  it  be  ;  for  I  shall  be  always 
ready  to  follow  his  command,  so  that"  I  may  become  a  better  man. 

SOCR.  —  It  is  wonderful  to  consider  what  a  providential  regard  he  has  toward  thee. 
AXXa  pi)v  Koxetvoj  Sao/ms^y  btrtiv  atpi  at  spoSv/iiav  e^ti. 

See  PLATO.  OPER.  Mcibiad.  sec.  vol.  v,  p.  100,  Edit.  Bipont. 

Line  222.  0/Jove  and  thee  tee  arelhecare.  —  Referring  to  the  words  of  Socrates  in 
the  above  extract  'Ouros  t$iv  <•/  //eXXa  wtpi  aov.  It  is  he  who  careth  for  thee. 

Line  229.  May  thy  care  preserve  out  state.  —  I  believe  the  last  six  lines  were  applied 
by  the  poet  to  the  British  empire  ;  to  which  in  the  spirit  of  true  patriotism,  his  heart 
and  hand  put  ytvoiro  ytvotro!  so  lie  it!  so  be  it!  and  to  which  the  annotator  affec- 
tionately subscribes  AMEN  and  AMEN. 

VARIOUS    READINGS. 

Line  70.    For  Us  fancied  aid  fmplore.  —  Imaginary  power  adore.  —  Mr.  J.  Wesley 

Line  71.  Since  brig  lit  oil  ami  wool  and  wine.  —  Since  oil  and  wool  and  cheerful 
•wine.  —  J.  Wesley. 

Line  31.    Jit  Jove's  command.  —  Jit  thy  command.  —  Mr.  J.  Wesley, 

Line  106.  Which  the  enamoured  student  loves.  —  Which  the  pensive  lover  loves.  — 
S.  W.'s  alteration  in  Mrs.  Wright's  MS. 

Line  108.  For  learned  thought  and  converse  made.  —  Sacred  fanes  are  frequent  made. 

—  Mrs.  W.'s  copy.  "  For  thought  and  friendly  converse  made."  —  J.  W.  "  For  learn- 
ed thought  and  converse  made."  —  Alteration  by  Mr.  J.  W. 

Line   123.  Whether  rarious  nature's  play.  —  Whether  varied  nature  play.  —  J.  W. 
Line  127.    Atheists  laugh,  and  dare  despise.  —  Laugh,  ye  profane  who  dare,  &c.  — 
J.W. 

Line  132.  You  tend.—  Thou  send'st.—  J.  W. 

Line  167.  —  Thtnnieht  obscene  does  straight  arise.  —  Then  does  night  obscene  arise. 

—  J.  W. 

Line  204.  WM  noble  nnnl«tion  Wil.—  For  Greece  with  pious  ardour  firM.—  J.  W. 


SAMUEL  WESLET,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  103 

met  in  Greek  with  a  Hymn  ofEupolis  to  the  Creator,  and  (defragment 
of  an  unpublished  Dialogue  of  Plato,  I  should  have  inserted  both  with 
the  greatest  cheerfulness,  and  could  have  assured  myself  of  the  thanks 
of  all  the  critics  in  Europe  for  my  pains.  That  such  a  Greek  original 
exists,  and  that  the  above  is  a  faithful  translation  from  it,  is  the  opinion 
of  most  who  have  seen  the  poem  ;  and  some  of  Mr.  Wesley's  biogra- 
phers have  adduced  it,  "  as  being  one  of  the  finest  pictures  extant  of 
Gentile  piety ;"  and  farther  tell  us,  "  this  hymn  may  throw  light  on  that 
passage  of  St.  Paul  respecting  the  Heathen,  Rom.  i,  21,  &c  :  'When 
they  knew  God,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God.  Wherefore  God  gave 
them  up,  &c.'  Their  polytheism  was  a  punishment  consequent  upon 
their  apostasy  from  God."  I  believe  the  Gentiles  never  apostatized 
from  the  true  God,  the  knowledge  of  whom  they  certainly  never  had, 
till  they  received  it  by  Divine  revelation. 

Knowing  that  the  writers  from  whom  I  have  quoted  the  above  were 
well  educated  and  learned  men,  and  feeling  an  intense  desire  to  find  out 
this  "  finest  picture  extant  of  Gentile  piety,"  I  have  sought  occasionally 
for  above  thirty  years  to  find  this  original,  but  in  vain.  I  have  exa- 
mined every  Greek  writer  within  my  reach,  particularly  all  the  major  and 
minor  poets  :  but  no  Hymn  of  Eupolis,  or  of  any  other,  from  which  the 
above  might  be  a  translation,  has  ever  occurred  to  me.  I  have  inquired 
of  learned  men  whether  they  had  met  with  such  a  poem.  None  had 
seen  it!  After  many  fruitless  searches  and  inquiries,  I  went  to  Professor 
Porson,  perhaps  the  most  deeply  learned  and  extensively  read  Greek 
scholar  in  Europe ;  and  laid  the  subject  and  the  question  before  him. 
He  answered,  "Eupolis,  from  the  character  we  have  of  him,  is  the  last 
man  among  the  Greek  poets  from  whom  we  could  expect  to  see  any 
thing  pious  or  sublime  concerning  the  Divine  nature  :  but  you  may  rest 
assured  that  no  such  composition  is  extant  in  Greek."  Of  this  I  was 
sufficiently  convinced  before :  but  I  thought  it  well  to  have  the  testimony 
of  a  scholar  so  eminent,  that  the  question  might  be  set  at  rest. 

The  reader  therefore  may  rest  assured  that  Eupolis  his  Hymn  to  the 
Creator  is  the  production  of  the  head  and  heart  of  Samuel  Wesley, 
rector  of  Epworth ;  that  it  never  had  any  other  origin,  and  never  existed 
in  any  other  language.  It  may  be  considered  as  a  fine,  and  in  general 
very  successful,  attempt  to  imitate  a  Greek  poet,  who  was  master  of  the 
full  power  and  harmony  of  his  language,  and  had  imbibed  from  number- 
less lectures  the  purest  and  most  sublime  ideas  in  the  philosophy  of 
Plato.  The  character  of  the  Platonist  is  wonderfully  preserved 
throughout  the  whole  ;  the  conceptions  are  all  Vorthy  of  the  subject ; 
the  Grecian  history  and  mythology  are  woven  through  it  with  exquisite 
art ;  and  it  is  so  like  a  finished  work  from  the  highest  cultivated  Greek 
muse,  that  I  receive  the  evidence  of  my  reason  and  research  with  regret, 
when  it  assures  me  that  this  inimitable  hymn  was  the  production  of  the 
Isle  poet  of  Axholm.  Should  any  of  my  readers  be  dissatisfied  with  the 
result  of  my  inquiries,  and  still  think  that  Eupolis'  Hymn  to  the  Creator 
exists  in  Greek,  and  will  go  in  quest  of  this  Sangreal,  ho  shall  have  my 
heartiest  wishes  for  the  good  speed  of  his  searches,  and  when  successful 
my  heartiest  thanks. 

But  if  the  Hymn  ofEupolis  be  *  forgery,  what  becomes  of  the  veracity. 


104  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

not  to  say  honesty,  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley?  I  answer,  it  is  no  forgery; 
it  is  no  where  said  by  him  that  it  is  a  translation  of  a  Greek  original , 
nor  does  it  appear  that  he  had  any  intention  to  deceive.  Two  words  in 
the  title  are  proof  sufficient.  "  The  (supposed)  occasion,"  and,  "  Part 
of  (a  net*)  Dialogue."  He  covered  his  design  a  little  to  make  his 
readers  search  and  examine.  Some  of  them  have  not  examined ;  and 
therefore  said  of  the  poem,  that  it  is  a  fine  specimen  of  Gentile  piety 
which  he  never  even  intended.  From  the  many  oblique  references  to 
the  history  of  his  own  times,  and  from  the  apparent  accommodation  of 
ancient  facts  to  that  history,  I  am  led  to  think  the  author  had  a  double 
design  : — 1.  To  try  how  far  pure  Platonic  ideas  could  be  applied  in  the 
praises,  and  in  describing  the  perfections  of  that  God  who  has  revealed 
himself  to  mankind ;  and,  secondly,  to  give  a  useful  lesson  to  his  own 
times  relative  to  that  restless  spirit  of  republicanism  which  had  leavened 
a  major  part  of  the  kingdom.  On  this  second  consideration,  it  would 
be  easy  to  form  a  useful  critique  on  the  whole  poem  ;  the  grand  moral 
of  which  is,  "  God  is  the  Fountain  and  Author  of  all  good  :  he  governs 
the  world  by  a  wise  and  gracious  providence.  His  wisdom  is  so 
perfect,  that  he  cannot  err ;  his  goodness  is  so  great,  that  he  can  do 
nothing  evil ;  as  he  is  infinitely  merciful,  he  must  always  be  kind. 
Subjection  to  his  providence  under  all  dispensations  is  true  wisdom  ; 
and  to  rebel  against  his  government  is  folly  and  madness.  Kingly 
government  is  from  himself:  but  he  permits  tyrants  to  become  the 
scourge  of  an  ungrateful  and  disobedient  people  ; 

"  To  tyrants  made  an  easy  prey, 
Who  would  not  godlike  icings  obey  ; 
Tyrants  and  kings  from  Jove  proceed ; 
THOSE  permitted,  THESE  decreed," 

I  have  spent  a  long  time  on  this  poem,  because  I  believe  it  to  be, 
without  exception,  the  finest  in  the  English  language.  It  possesses 
what  Racine  calls  the  genie  crateur,  the  genuine  spirit  of  poetry. 
Pope's  Messiah  is  fine,  because  Pope  had  Virgil's  Pollio  before  him, 
and  the  Bible.  Mr.  Wesley  takes  nothing  as  a  model ;  he  goes  on  the 
ground  that  the  praises  of  the  One  Supreme  had  not  been  sung ;  he 
attempts  what  had  not  been  done  by  any  poet  before  the  Platonic  age, 
and  he  has  no  other  helps  than  those  furnished  by  his  poetic  powers 
and  classical  knowledge.  It  is  not  saying  too  much  to  assert,  the  man 
who  was  the  author  of  what  is  called  Eupolis'  Hymn  to  the  Creator, 
had  he  taken  time,  care,  and  pains,  arid  had  not  been  continually 
harassed  with  the  Res  angusta  domi,  would  have  adorned  the  highest 
walks  of  poetry.  But  to  him  poverty  was  the  scourge  of  knowledge  ; 
and  he  fully  experienced  the  truth  of  that  maxim  of  the  Roman  satirist, 
from  which  I  have  quoted  the  above  three  words : — 

Haud  facile  emergunt,  quorum  virtutibus  obstat 

Res  angusta  dorm.  JUT.  SAT.  iii,  v.  164. 

Rarely  they  rise  by  learning's  aid,  who  lie 
,         Plung'd  in  the  depth  of  helpless  poverty. 

But  he  spent  his  time  in  something  better  than  making  verses :  he 
was  a  laborious  and  useful  parish  priest;  and  educated  a  numerous 


SAMUJCL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  105 

family  of  males  and  females*  who  were  a  credit  to  him  and  to  their 
country.     But  more  of  this  in  its  place. 

I  have  already  mentioned  a  letter  written  by  his  brother  Matthew  to 
him,  from  which  I  have  given  an  extract  with  some  short  observations, 
and  promised  Mr.  S.  Wesley's  reply.  The  letter  is  without  a  date  : 
but  this  seems  a  proper  place  to  introduce  it.  It  contains  a  connected 
series  of  domestic  facts,  from  his  own  pen,  which  cast  some  light  upon 
that  part  of  his  history  which  is  past,  as  well  as  on  that  which  is  yet  to 
be  produced. 

It  is  written  in  ft  serio-jocose  style  ;  and  is  supposed  to  be  communi- 
cated by  a  third  person,  who  having  seen  the  letter  of  Mr.  Matthew 
Wesley,  handed  the  same  to  his  brother  Samuel,  "  that  he  might  know 
what  the  left-handed  part  of  the  world  said  of  him." — The  letter  is 
headed  John  o'  Styles  Apology  against  the  imputation  of  his  ill  Hus- 
bandry. The  reader  will  recollect  that  the  main  charge,  brought  by 
Surgeon  Wesley  against  his  brother,  was  this,  that  "  although  he  had  a 
plentiful  estate,  and  great  and  generous  benefactions,  yet  he  had  made 
no  provision  for  his  numerous  progeny ;"  "  that  this  was  a  black 
account,  &c  ;  and  he  calls  him  to  repentance,  and  to  study  the  doctrine 
of  restitution,  that  from  a  serious  consideration  of  these  things,  he 
might  prepare  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  &c."  The  pretended 
narrator  goes  on  : — 

"  When  I  had  read  this  to  my  friend  John  o'  Styles,  I  was  a  little 
surprised  that  he  did  not  fall  into  flouncing  and  bouncing,  as  I  have 
too  often  seen  him  do  on  far  less  provocation;  which  I  ascribed  to  a 
fit  of  sickness  which  he  had  lately  had,  and  which  I  hope  may  have 
brought  him  to  something  of  a  better  mind.  He  stood  calm  and 
composed  for  a  minute  or  two  ;  and  then  desired  he  might  peruse  the 
letter,  adding  that  if  the  matter  of  fact  therein  were  true,  and  not 
aggravated  or  misrepresented,  he  was  obliged  in  conscience  to 
acknowledge  it,  and  ask  pardon  at  least  of  his  family,  if  he  could  make 
them  no  other  satisfaction.  If  it  were  not  true,  he  owed  that  justice 
to  himself  and  his  family,  to  clear  himself  if  possible,  of  so  vile  an 
imputation.  After  he  had  read  it  over,  he  said  he  did  not  think  it 
necessary  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  history  of  his  whole  life,  from 
sixteen  to  upward  of  seventy,  in  order  to  the  vindication  of  his  conduct 
in  all  the  particulars  of  it :  but  the  method  he  chose,  which  he  hoped 
would  be  satisfactory  to  all  unprejudiced  persons,  would  be  to  make 
general  observations  on  those  general  accusations  which  have  been 
brought  forward  against  him ;  and  then  to  add  some  balance  of  his 
incomes  and  expenses  ever  since  he  entered  on  the  stage  of  life. 

"  li  .<:s,  that  almost  all  his  indictment  consists  of  generals, 

wherein  Qftud  almost  always  lurks,  and  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  free 
itself  entirely  from  it. 

"  The  sum  of  the  libel  may  be  reduced  to  the  following  assertions  : 
1.  That  John  o'  Styles  is  worse  than  an  infidel,  and  therefore  can  never 
go  to  heaven.  2.  He  aims  at  proving  this,  because  he  provides  not  for 
his  own  house :  as.  notorious  instances  of  which  he  adds,  in  the  3d 
place,  That  he  had  a  numerous  offspring ;  and  has  had  a  long  time  a 
plentiful  estate,  and  great  and  generous  benefactors,  but  yet  has  made 

14 


106  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

no  provision  for  those  of  his  own  house  ;  which  he  thinks,  in  the  last 
place,  a  black  account,  let  the  cause  be  folly  or  vanity. 

"  Answer. — If  God  has  blessed  him  with  a  numerous  offspring,  he 
has  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  them,  nor  they  of  him,  unless  perhaps 
one  of  them  ;  and  if  he  had  but  that  single  one,  it  might  have  proved 
no  honour  or  support  to  his  name  and  family.     Neither  does  his 
conscience  accuse  him  that  he  has  made  no  provision  for  those  of  his 
own  house  ;  which  general  accusation  includes  them  all.     But  has  he 
none,  nay,  not  above  one,  two,  or  three,  to  whom  he  has  (and  some  of 
them  at  very  considerable  expenses)  given  the  best  education  which 
England  could  afford ;  by  God's  blessing  on  which  they  live  honourably 
and  comfortably  in  the  world ;  some  of  whom  have  already  been  a 
considerable  help  to  the  others,  as  well  as  to  himself;  and  he  has  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  same  of  the  rest,  as  soon  as  God  shall  enable  them 
to  do  it ;  and  there  are  many  gentlemen's  familes  in  England,  who  by 
the  same  method  provide  for  their  younger  children.     And  he  hardly 
thinks  that  there  are  many  of  greater  estates,  but  would  be  glad  to 
change  the  best  of  theirs,  or  even  all  their  stock,  for  almost  the  worst 
of  his.     Neither  is  he  ashamed  of  claiming  some  merit  in  his  having 
been  so  happy  .in  breeding  them  up  in  his  own  principles  and  practices  ; 
not  only  the  priests  of  his  family,  but  all  the  rest,  to  a  steady  opposition 
and  confederacy  against  all  such  as  are  avowed  and  declared  enemies 
to  God  and  his  clergy ;  and  who  deny  or  disbelieve  any  articles  of 
natural  or  revealed  religion ;  as  well  as  to  such  as  are  open  or  secret 
friends  to  the  great  rebellion ;  or  any  such  principles  as  do  but  squint 
toward  the  same  practices ;  so  that  he  hopes  they  are  all  staunch  high- 
Church,  and  for  inviolable  passive  obedience ;  from  which  if  any  of 
them  should  be  so  wicked  as  to  degenerate,  he  can't  tell  whether  he 
could  prevail  with  himself  to  give  them  his  blessing  ;  though  at  the 
same  time  he  almost  equally  abhors  all  servile  submission  to  the  greatest 
and   most   overgrown  tool   of  state,  whose   avowed  design   it   is  to 
aggrandize  his  prince  at  the  expense  of  the  liberties  and  properties  of 
his  free-born  subjects.     Thus  much  for  John  o'  Styles'  ecclesiastical 
and  political  creed ;  and,  as  he  hopes,  for  those  of  his  family.     And  as 
his  adversary  adds,  that  'at  his  exit  they  could  have  nothing  in  view 
but  distress ;  and  that  it  is  a  black  account,  let  the  cause  be  folly  or 
vanity;'  John  o'  Styles  answered, — he  has  not  the  least  doubt  of  God's 
provision  for  his  family  after  his  decease,  if  they  continue  in  the  way 
of  righteousness,  as  well  as  for  himself  while  he  has  been  living.     As 
for  his  folly,  he  owns  he  can  hardly  demur  to  the  charge ;  for  he  fairly 
acknowledges  he  never  was,  and  never  will  be  like  the  children  of  this 
world,  who  are  accounted  wise  in  their  generation,  in  doting  upon  this 
world,  courting  this  world,  and  regarding  nothing  else :   not  but  that  he 
has  all  his  life  laboured  truly  both  with  his  hands,  head,  and  heart,  to 
provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men ;  to  get  his  own  living, 
and  that  of  those  who  have  been  dependents  on  him. 

"  As  for  his  vanity,  he  challenges  an  instance  to  be  given  of  any 
extravagance  in  any  single  branch  of  his  expenses,  through  the  whole 
course  of  his  life,  either  in  dress,  diet,  horses,  or  recreation  or  diversion, 

either  in  himself  or  family. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  107 

"  Now  if  these,  which  are  the  main  objections,  are  wiped  off,  what 
becomes  of  the  black  account,  or  of  the  worse  than  infidelity  which  this 
Scverus  Prater  et  Jlvunculus  Puerorum  has  in  the  plenitude  of  his 
power  (as  he  takes  upon  himself  to  have  the  full  power  of  the  keys)  to 
exclude  those,  who  for  want  of  equal  illumination,  or  equal  estates, 
think  or  act  differently  from  himself,  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven? 

"  As  for  the  plentiful  estate,  and  great  and  generous  benefactors, 
which  he  likewise  mentions : — as  to  the  latter  of  them,  the  person 
accused  answered,  that  he  could  never  acknowledge  as  he  ought  the 
goodness  of  God  and  of  his  generous  benefactors  on  that  occasion ; 
but  hopes  he  may  add,  that  he  had  never  tasted  so  much  of  their 
kindness  if  they  had  not  believed  him  to  be  an  honest  man.  Thus 
much  he  said  in  general,  but  added  as  to  particular  instances,  he  should 
only  add  a  blank  balance,  and  leave  it  to  any  after  his  death,  if  they 
should  think  it  worth  while,  to  cast  it  up  according  to  common  equity, 
and  then  they  would  be  more  proper  judges  whether  he  deserved  those 
imputations  which  are  now  thrown  upon  him. 

"  Imprimis.  Wrfen  he  first  walked  to  Oxford,  he  had  in  cash  21.  5s. 

"  He  lived  there  till  he  took  his  bachelors'  degree,  without  any 
preferment  or  assistance,  except  one  crown — 5s. 

"  By  God's  blessing  on  his  own  industry,  he  brought  to  London — 
10/.  15s. 

"  When  he  came  to  London,  he  got  deacon's  orders,  and  a  cure,  for 
which  he  had  28/.  for  one  year. 

"  In  which  year  for  his  board,  ordination,  and  habit,  he  was  indebted 
30/.,  which  he  afterward  paid. 

"  Then  he  went  to  sea,  where  he  had  for  one  year  70/.,  not  paid  till 
two  years  after  his  return. 

"  He  then  got  a  curacy  at  30/.  per  annum  for  two  years,  and  by  his 
own  industry  he  made  it  60/.  per  annum. — 120/. 

"  He  married  and  had  a  son  ;  and  he  and  his  wife  and  child  boarded 
for  some  years  in  or  near  London  without  running  into  debt. 

"  He  had  then  a  living*  given  him  in  the  country,  let  for  50/.  per 
annum,  where  he  had  five  children  more  ;  in  which  time,  and  while  he 
Jived  in  London,  he  wrote  a  book,"!"  which  he  dedicated  to  Queen  Mary, 
who  for  that  reason  gave  him  a  living  in  the  country,^  valued  at  200/. 
per  annum,  where  he  remained  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  wherein  his 
numerous  offspring  amounted  with  the  former  to  eighteen  or  nineteen 
children. 

"  Half  of  his  parsonage  house  was  first  burnt,  which  he  rebuilt  : 
sometime  after,  the  whole  was  burnt  to  the  ground,  which  he  rebuilt 
from  the  foundations ;  and  it  cost  him  above  400/.  beside  the  furniture, 
none  of  which  was  saved  ;  and  he  was  forced  to  renew  it. 

"  About  ten  years  since§  he  got  a  little  living!)  adjoining  to  his 
former;  the  profits  of  which  very  little  more  than  defrayed  the  expense! 

*  South  Ormsby.  f  The  Life  of  Christ.  f  Ep  worth. 

J  It  is  said  by  Dr.  Whitehead  that  he  got  the  living  of  Wrootr,  in  1723.     If  »o, 
this  letter  must  have  been  written  in  1733. 
II  Wroote. 


108 


OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 


of  serving  it,  and  sometimes  hardly  so  much ;  his  whole  tithe  having 
been  in  a  manner  swept  away  by  inundations,  for  which  the  parishioners 
had  a  brief,  though  he  thought  it  not  decent  for  himself  to  be  joined 
with  them  in  it. 

"  For  the  greater  part  of  these  last  ten  years  he  has  been  closely 
employed  in  composing  a  large  book,*  whereby  he  hoped  he  might 
have  done  some  benefit  to  the  world,  and  in  some  measure  amended 
his  own  fortunes.  By  sticking  so  close  to  this,  he  has  broke  a  pretty 
strong  constitution,  and  fallen  into  the  palsy  and  gout.  Beside  this, 
he  has  had  sickness  in  his  family  for  most  of  the  years  since  he  was 
married. 

"  His  greater  living  seldom  cleared  above  jive  score  pounds  per 
annum,  out  of  which  he  allowed  20/.  per  annum  to  a  personf  who  had 
married  one  of  his  daughters.  J  Could  we  on  the  whole  fix  the  balance, 
it  would  easily  appear  whether  he  had  been  an  ill  husband  or  careless 
and  idle,  and  taken  no  care  of  his  family.  Let  us  range  on  the  one 
side  his  income,  and  on  the  other  his  expenses,  while  he  has  been  at  the 
top  of  his  fortunes,  taking  them  at  the  full  extent. 

£  £ 

Expended  in  sickness  for  above 

forty  years 
Expenses  in  taking  his  livings, 

repairing  the  houses,  &c. 
Rebuilding  part  of  his  house  the 

first  time 

Rebuilding  the  whole  house, 
Furnishing  it 

Eight  children  born  and  buried      

Tm§     (thank    God!)     living,) 

brought  up,  and  educated        $ 
Most  of  the  daughters  put  out  to  ) 

a  way  of  living 
To    three    sons||    for   the    best 

education  I  could  get  them  in 

England 
Attending  the  convocation  three 


His  income  about  200J.  per  ) 
annum  for  forty  years         $ 


160 

60 
400 


years 


150 


"  Let  all  this  be  balanced,  and  then  a  guess  may  be  easily  made  of 
his  sorry  management. 

"  He  can  struggle  with  the  world,  but  not  with  Providence :  nor 
can  he  resist  sicknesses,  Jires,  and  inundations." 

In  his  family  exigencies  Mr.  Wesley  was  frequently  obliged  to 
borrow  money :  but  such  was  his  character  for  probity,  honour,  and 
punctuality,  that  he  could  command  it  wheresoever  it  was  to  be  had. 
There  was  a  man  of  considerable  property  in  Epworth,  who  was  in 
the  habit  of  lending  out  money  at  35  and  40/.  per  cent.  Mr.  Wesley 
was  obliged  sometimes  to  borrow  from  this  usurer ;  and  although  this 
man  was  devoured  by  the  auri  sacra  fames,  yet  such  was  his  esteem 

*  Dissertationes  in  librum  Jobi.        f  Mr.  Whitelamb.        J  Mary  Wesley. 
§  The  ten  then  alive  were  Samuel,  Emily,  Mary,  «/3nn,  Susanna,  John,  JWehetabel, 
Matthew,  Charles,  and  Kezziah. 
jl  Samuel,  John,  and  Charles,  these  were  the  three. 


SAMUEL    WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPtVORTH.  109 

for  an  upright  character,  that  in  no  case  did  he  ever  takeyi-om  Mr.  W. 
more  than  5  per  cent.ybr  the  use  of  his  money. 

The  preceding  letter  seems  to  have  been  written  in  great  haste ;  and 
from  his  saying  he  had  been  in  sicknesses  for  nearly  forty  years  ;  and 
in  another  place,  that  these  began  from  his  marriage,  which  probably 
took  place  in  1690,  the  letter  must  have  been  written  in  1730,  (but  see 
note  §  p.  107,)  at  which  time  he  says  he  had  been  employed  ten  years 
on  the  book  of  Job  ;  for  this  is  the  large  work  of  which  he  speaks,  and 
which  was  published  a  short  time  after  his  death,  viz.  in  1 736. 

I  need  not  tell  the  reader  that  the  letter  is  a  most  complete  and 
happy  confutation  or  his  brother's  charges,  and  of  those  who  have  felt 
inclined  to  repeal  them  :  and  when  we  consider  his  expenses  and  the 
numerous  family  he  brought  up,  we  may  be  well  surprised  how,  with  so 
small  an  annual  income,  he  was  a'ole  to  meet  and  cover  such  great  de- 
mands. He  had  spared  neither  pains  nor  cost  on  the  education  of  his 
children.  I  have  seen  letters  from  most  of  them,  full  of  mind  and 
strong  sense;  and  the  writing,  especially  that  of  the  females,  remark- 
ably correct  and  elegant.  As  to  the  three  sons,  Samue(,  John,  and 
Charles,  we  shall  see  the  men  and  their  education,  from  iheir  works. 
Some  of  the  daughters  were  by  no  means  inferior  to  the  sons. 

From  the  preceding  letter  we  see  that  his  Church  and  Slate  princi- 
ples were  of  the  highest  order;  and  that  he  was  nevertheless  an  enemy 
to  arbitrary  power.  Of  the  former  his  whole  life  gave  proof;  of  the 
latter  we  have  a  remarkable  instance  in  his  refusal  to  read  the  Declara- 
tion of  King  James  II.  in  favour  of  popery,  though  strongly  solicited 
by  some  of  the  king's  friends  to  do  it ;  and  he  not  only  refused  to  read 
the  Declaration,  but  though  surrounded  with  courtiers,  soldiers,  and 
informers,  preached  a  bold  discourse  pointedly  against  it,  from  Daniel 
iii,  17,  18  :  If  it  be  so,  our  God  whom  we  serve  is  able  to  deliver  us 
from  the  burning  fiery  furnace  ;  and  he  will  deliver  us  out  of  thy  hand, 
O  king.  But  if  not,  be  it  known  unto  thee,  O  king,  that  we  will  not 
serve  thy  gods,  nor  worship  the  golden  image  which  thou  hast  set  up. 

This  circumstance  is  well  described  by  his  son  Samuel  in  the  fol- 
lowing lines : — 

When  zealous  James,  unhappy  sought  the  way 

To  'stablish  Rome  by  arbitrary  sway ; 

In  vain  were  bribes  shower'd  by  the  guilty  crown, 

He  sought  no  favour,  as  he  fear'd  no  frown. 

Secure  in  faith,  exempt  from  worldly  views, 

He  dared  the  DECLARATION*  to  refuse  : 

Then  from  the  sacred  pulpit  boldly  show'd 

The  dauntless  Hebrews  true  to  Israel's  God  : 

Who  spake  regardless  of  their  king's  commands, 

"  The  God  we  serve  can  save  us  from  thy  hands ; 

If  not,  O  monarch,  know  we  choose  to  die, 

Thy  gods  alike  and  threatenings  we  defy.  :  -^^ 

No  power  on  earth  our  faith  has  e'er  controll'd, 

We  scorn  to  worship  idols,  though  of  gold." 

*  The  Declaration  was  a  proclamation  by  James  II.,  which,  under  the  pretenre  of 
granting  liberty  of  conscience  to  all  his  subjects,  was  intended  to  take  ofl'all  fiolmml 
restraints  from  the  papitts,  and  admit  them  into  the  highest  offices  both  in  Church 
and  State.  It  was  issued  April  4, 1687,  and  commanded  to  be  read  in  all  churche* 
and  chnpels,  &c,  in  Great  Britain. 


110  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Resistless  truth  damped  all  the  audience  round ; 
The  base  informer  sicken'd  at  the  sound  ; 
Attentive  courtiers,  conscious,  stood  amaz'd, 
And  soldiers,  silent,  trembled  as  they  gaz'd. 
No  smallest  murmur  of  distaste  arose, 
Abash'd  and  vanquish'd  seemed  the  Church's  foes. 
So  when  like  zeal  their  bosoms  did  inspire, 
The  Jeioish  martyrs  walk'd  unhurt  in  fire." 

His  son  John  has  been  heard  to  state,  that  at  first  his  father  was  very 
much  attached  to  the  interests  of  James :  "  but  when,"  said  old  Mr. 
Samuel  Wesley,  "  I  heard  him  say  to  the  master  and  fellows  of  Mag- 
dalen College,  lifting  up  his  lean  arm,  '  if  you  refuse  to  obey  me,  you 
shall  feel  the  weight  of  a  king's  right  hand  ;'  I  saw  he  was  a  tyrant ; 
and  though  I  was  not  inclined  to  take  an  active  part  against  him,  I  was 
resolved  from  that  time  to  give  him  no  kind  of  support."  With  this 
anecdote  I  was  favoured  by  the  reverend  and  venerable  Thomas  Stead- 
man,  vicar  of  St.  Chad's,  Shrewsbury,  to  whose  friendly  and  important 
communications  these  memoirs  are  in  various  places  much  indebted. 

Mr.  Wesley  fully  expected  that  James  would,  if  possible,  introduce 
arbitrary  government  into  the  State  ;  and  popery,  its  concomitant,  into 
the  Church.  He  saw,  therefore,  the  necessity  of  the  Revolution ;  was 
confirmed  in  its  principles ;  and  became  strongly  attached  to  King 
William,  and  was  one  of  his  chaplains.  "  He  left  a  remarkable  me- 
morial of  his  admiration  of  King  William's  character  in  one  of  his 
dissertations  on  the  book  of  Job  ;  where  in  remarking  on  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  war  .horse,  (chap,  xxxix,)  he  introduces  the  deceased  mo- 
narch as  he  appeared  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  in  Ireland,  July  1, 
1690  ;  and  in  both  eloquent  and  affectionate  language  points  him  out 
as  the  fittest  hero  to  have  managed  the  warlike  animal  just  described. 
The  compliment  is  the  more  honourable  both  to  the  bestower  and  the 
object,  as  dead  monarchs  can  give  no  rewards,  and  as  probably  his  me- 
mory was  not  remarkably  grateful  to  those  in  power."  This  curious 
comparison,  probably  as  being  deemed  useless  or  irrelevant,  was 
omitted  by  his  son  Samuel  in  passing  that  sheet  through  the  press.  I 
thus  conjecture,  because  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  it  in  the  work. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Mr.  Wesley,  wishing  to  have  a  true  repre- 
sentation of  the  war  horse  described  by  Job,  hearing  that  Lord  Ox- 
ford had  one  of  the  finest  Arabs  then  supposed  to  be  in  the  world, 
wrote  to  his  lordship  for  permission  to  have  his  likeness  taken  for  the 
work.  That  this  request  was  granted  there  is  little  room  to  doubt ;  and 
we  may  therefore  safely  conclude  that  the  horse  represented,  Dissert, 
p.  338,  engraved  by  Cole,  was  taken  from  what  was  called  "  Lord  Ox- 
ford's Bloody  Arab."  The  original  letter  containing  the  request  lies 
before  me  ;  it  is  conceived  with  great  delicacy  of  sentiment,  and  is  ele- 
gantly expressed : — 
"  To  my  lord  of  Oxford, 

"  MY  LORD, — Your  lordship's  accumulated  favours  on  my  eldest  son 
of  Westminster  are  so  far  from  discouraging  me  from  asking  one  for 
myself  of  your  lordship,  that  they  rather  excite  me  to  do  it,  especially 
when  your  lordship  has  been  always  so  great  a  patron  of  learning  and 
all  useful  undertakings.  I  hope  I  may  have  some  pretence  to  the  lot- 


- 

SAMUEL   WESLEY,   RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  Ill 

ter,  how  little  soever  I  may  have  to  the  former  :  and  have  taken  some 
pains  in  my  Dissertations  on  Job  to  illustrate  the  description  of  the  horse, 
though  it  is  impossible  to  add  any  thing  to  it.  For  this  reason  I  would, 
if  it  were  possible,  procure  a  draft  of  the  finest  Jlrab'horst  in  the  world : 
and  having  had  an  account  from  several  hands  that  your  lordship's 
Bloody  Arab  answers  the  character,  I  have  an  ambition  to  get  him 
drawn  by  the  best  artist  we  can  find,  and  place  him  as  the  greatest 
ornament  of  my  work.  If  your  lordship  has  a  picture  of  him  I  would 
beg  that  my  engraver  may  take  a  draft  from  it,  or  if  not,  that  my  son 
may  have  the  liberty  to  get  one  drawn  from  the  life ;  either  of  which 
will  make  him  if  possible,  as  well  as  myself,  yet  more 

"  Your  lordship's  most  devoted  humble  servant, 

"  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  Sen." 

Lord  Oxford  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Samuel  Wesley,  jun.,  who 
was  a  frequent  guest  at  his  lordship's  house,  where  he  was  treated  with 
great  distinction,  as  will  appear  in  these  memoirs ;  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  son  became  the  negociator  of  the  father's  request.  The 
horse  in  the  Dissertations  is  evidently  designed  for  an  Arabian  horse, 
and  no  doubt  was  taken  from  that  of  Lord  Oxford:  but  it  is  neither  well 
drawn  nor  well  engraved  ;  and  this  is  the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  the 
model  was  so  perfect  in  its  kind. 

In  the  end  of  the  year  1715,  and  the  beginning  of  the  year  1716, 
there  were  some  strange  disturbances  in  the  parsonage  house  at  Ep- 
worth,  of  such  a  singular  nature  as  entitles  them  to  a  distinct  mention. 
The  accounts  given  of  these  are  so  circumstantial  and  authentic  as  to 
entitle  them  to  the  most  implicit  credit.  The  eye  and  ear-witnesses  were 
persons  of  strong  understandings,  and  well  cultivated  minds,  untinc- 
tured  by  superstition,  and  in  some  instances  rather  skeptically  inclined. 
Hearing  of  these  things,  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  jun.,  then  at  Westminster 
School,  wrote  to  his  father,  mother,  and  sisters,  for  the  particulars;  and 
proposed  such  questions  to  them  upon  the  subject  as  led  them  to  use 
the  utmost  care,  scrupulosity,  and  watchfulness,  to  prevent  them  from 
being  imposed  on  by  trick  or  fraud.  Of  the  proceedings  in  this  strange 
disturbance,  Mr.  Wesley,  sen.  kept  a  diary  or  journal ;  and  Mr.  John 
Wesley  had  also  a  detailed  account  of  the  whole  from  the  family. 
Nothing  apparently  preternatural  can  lie  farther  beyond  the  verge  of 
imposture  than  these  accounts ;  and  the  circumstantial  statements 
contained  in  them  force  conviction  of  their  truth,  even  on  the  minds  of 
the  incredulous.  That  they  were  preternatural,  the  whole  stale  of  the 
case  and  supporting  evidence,  seem  to  demonstrate. 

The  documents  to  which  I  refer,  and  which  are  inserted  in  their 
proper  piace,  fell  some  how  or  other,  into  the  hands  of  the  late  I)r.  Jo- 
seph  Priestly,  who  thought  proper  to  publish  them  in  a  pamphlet  by 
themselves.  He  stated  that  he  had  received  them  from  ihe  late  Mr. 
Badcock,  to  whom  they  had  been  communicated  by  Mrs.  Earle,  grand- 
daughter of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  Mr.  John  Wesley's  eldest  brother. 
Mr.  Badcock,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  J.  Wesley  from  South  Mollon,  Devon* 
dated  April  22, 1780,  mentions  these  MSS.,  and  his  hope  that  he  shall  In 
able  to  procure  and  send  them  to  Mr.  W.  Nothing  farther  concerning 
these  papers  was  heard  till  Dr.  Priestly  laid  them  before  the  public. 


112  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

How  he  obtained  these  MSS.  which  Mr.  Badcock  had  proposed,  should 
he  possess  them,  to  deliver  to  Mr.  John  Wesley,  is  a  question  which 
cannot  at  present  be  answered,  as  all  the  parties  are  long  since  dead. 
This  ^however  does  not  affect  the  authenticity  of  these  documents 
which  are  admitted  on  all  hands  to  be  indisputably  genuine. 


DISTURBANCES, 

Supposed  to  be  Preternatural,  at  the  Parsonage  House,  in  Epworth. 


MR.    SAMUEL  WESLEY'S  JOURNAL. 

"An  Account  of  Noises  and  Disturbances  in  my  House  at  Epworth,  Lincolnshire, 
in  December  and  January,  1716. 

"  FROM  the  first  of  December,  my  children  and  servants  heard  many 
strange  noises,  groans,  knockings,  £c,  in  every  story,  and  most  of  the 
rooms  of  my  house.  But  I  hearing  nothing  of  it  myself,  they  would 
not  tell  me  for  some  time,  because,  according  to  the  vulgar  opinion,  if 
it  boded  any  ill  to  me,  I  could  not  hear  it.  When  it  increased,  and  the 
family  could  not  easily  conceal  it,  they  told  me  of  it. 

"  My  daughters  Susanna  and  Ann  were  below  stairs  in  the  dining 
room  ;  and  heard  first  at  the  doors,  then  over  their  heads,  and  the  night 
after  a  knocking  under  their  feet,  though  nobody  was  in  the  chambers 
or  below  them.  The  like  they  and  my  servants  heard  in  both  the 
kitchens,  at  the  door  against  the  partition,  and  over  them.  The  maid 
servant  heard  groans  as  of  a  dying  man.  My  daughter  Emilia  coming 
down  stairs  to  draw  up  the  clock,  and  lock  the  doors  at  ten  at  night,  as 
usual,  heard  under  the  staircase  a  sound  among  some  bottles  there,  as 
if  they  had  been  all  dashed  to  pieces  ;  but  when  she  looked  all  was  safe. 

"  Something,  like  the  steps  of  a  man,  was  heard  going  up  and  down 
stairs,  at  all  hours  of  the  night,  and  vast  rumblings  below  stairs,  and  in 
the  garrets.  My  man,  who  lay  in  the  garret,  heard  some  one  come 
slaring  through  the  garret  to  his  chamber,  rattling  by  his  side,  as  if 
against  his  shoes,  though  he  had  none  there  ;  at  other  times  walking  up 
and  down  stairs,  when  all  the  house  were  in  bed,  and  gobling  like  a 
turkey  cock.  Noises  were  heard  in  the  nursery,  and  all  the  other 
chambers  ;  knocking  first  at  the  feet  of  the  bed  and  behind  it ;  and  a 
sound  like  that  of  dancing  in  a  matted  chamber,  next  the  nursery,  when 
the  door  was  locked,  and  nobody  in  it.  - 

"  My  wife  would  have  persuaded  them  it  was  rats  within  dqors,  and 
some  unlucky  people  knocking  without ;  till  at  last  we  heard  several 
loud  knocks  in  our  owji  chamber,  on  my  side  of  the  bed  ;  but  till,  I 
think,  the  21st  at  night,  I  heard  nothing  of  it.  That  night  I  was  waked 
a  little  before  one  by  nine  distinct  very  loud  knocks,  which  seemed  to 
be  in  the  next  room  to  ours,  with  a  sort  of  a  pause  at  every  third  stroke. 
I  tLought  it  might  be  somebody  without  the  house ;  and  having  got  a 
stout  mastiff*,  hoped  he  would  soon  rid  me  of  it. 

"  The  next  night  I  heard  six  knocks,  but  riot  so  loud  as  the  former. 


SAMLEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OK   EPWORTH.  113 

I  know  not  whether  it  was  in  the  morning  after  Sunday  the  23d,  when 
about  seven  my  daughter  Emily  called  her  mother  into  the  nursery, 
and  told  her  she  might  now  hear  the  noises  there.  >She  went  in,  and 
heard  it  at  the  bedstead,  then  under  the  bed,  then  at  the  head  of  it.  She 
knocked,  and  it  answered  her.  She  looked  under  the  bed,  and  thought 
something  ran  from  thence,  but  could  not  well  tell  of  what  shape,  but 
thought  it  most  like  a  badger. 

"  The  next  night  but  one  we  were  awaked  about  one  by  the  noises, 
which  were  so  violent,  it  was  in  vain  to  think  of  sleep  while  they  con- 
tinued. I  rose,Vand  my  wife  would  rise  with  me.  We  went  into  every 
chamber,  and  down  stairs ;  and  generally  as  we  went  into  one  room, 
we  heard  it  in  that  behind  us,  though  all  the  family  had  been  in  bed 
several  hours.  When  we  were  going  down  stairs,  and  at  the  bottom 
of  them,  we  heard,  as  Emily  had  done  before,  a  clashing  among  the 
bottles,  as  if  they  had  been  broke  all  to  pieces,  and  another  jsound  dis- 
tinct from  it,  as  if  a  peck  of  money  had  been  thrown  down  before  us. 
The  same  three  of  my  daughters  heard  at  another  time. 

"  We  went  through  the  hall  into  the  kitchen,  when  our  mastiff  came 
whining  to  us,  as  he  did  always  after  the  first  night  of  its  coming ;  for 
then  he  barked  violently  at  it,  but  was  silent  afterward,  and  seemed  more 
afraid  than  any  of  the  children.  We  still  heard  it  rattle  and  thunder  in 
every  room  above  or  behind  us,  locked  as  well  as  open,  except  my  study, 
where  as  yet  it  never  came.  After  two,  we  went  to  bed,  and  were  pretty 
quiet  the  rest  of  the  night. 

"  Wednesday  night,  December  26,  after  or  a  little  before  ten,  my 
daughter  Emilia  heard  the  signal  of  its  beginning  to  play,  with  which 
she  was  perfectly  acquainted ;  it  was  like  the  strong  winding  up  of  a. 
jack.  She  called  us  ;  and  I  went  into  the  nursery,  where  it  used  to  be 
most  violent.  The  rest  of  the  children  were  asleep.  It  began  with 
knocking  in  the  kitchen  underneath,  then  seemed  to  be  at  the  bed's  feet, 
then  under  the  bed,  at  last  at  the  head  of  it.  I  went  down  stairs,  and 
knocked  with  my  stick  against  the  joists  of  the  kitchen.  It  answered 
me  as  often  and  as  loud  as  I  knocked  ;  but  then  I  knocked  as  I  usually 
do  at  my  door,  1 — 2  345  6 — 7,  but  this  puzzled  it,  and  it  did  not 
answer,  or  not  in  the  same  method  ;  though  the  children  heard  it  do  the 
same  exactly  twice  or  thrice  after. 

4i  I  went  up  stairs,  and  found  it  still  knocking  hard,  though  with  some 
respite,  sometimes  under  the  bed,  sometimes  at  the  bed's  head.  I  ob- 
served my  children  that  they  were  frighted  in  their  sleep,  and  trembled 
very  much  till  it  waked  them.  I  stayed  there  alone,  bid  them  go  to 
sleep,  and  sat  at  the  bed's  feet  by  them,  when  the  noise  began  again. 
I  asked  it  what  it  was,  and  why  it  disturbed  innocent  children,  and  did 
not  come  to  me  in  my  study,  if  it  had  any  thing  to  say  to  me.  Soon 
after  it  gave  one  knock  on  the  outside  of  the  house.  All  the  rest  were 
within,  and  knocked  off  for  that  night. 

"  I  went  out  of  doors,  sometimes  alone,  at  others  with  company,  and 
walked  round  the  house,  but  could  see  or  hear  nothing.    Several  nights 
the  latch  of  our  lodging  chamber  would  be  lifted  up  very  often,  \\ ;, 
were  in  bed.     One  night,  when  the  noise  was  great  in  the  kitchen,  and 
0,1  a  deal  partition,  and  the  door  in  the  yard,  the  latch  whereof  was  often 

15 


114  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

lifted  up,  my  daughter  Emilia  went  and  held  it  fast  on  the  inside :  but 
it  was  still  lifted  up,  and  the  door  pushed  violently  against  her,  though 
nothing  was  to  be  seen  on  the  outside. 

"  When  we  were  at  prayers,  and  came  to  the  prayers  for  King  George 
and  the  prince,  it  would  make  a  great  noise  over  our  heads  constantly, 
whence  some  of  the  family  called  it  a  Jacobite.  I  have  been  thrice 
pushed  by  an  invisible  power,  once  against  the  corner  of  my  desk  in  the 
study,  a  second  time  against  the  door  of  the  matted  chamber,  a  third 
time  against  the  right  side  of  the  frame  of  my  study  door,  as  I  was 
going  in. 

"  I  followed  the  noise  into  almost  every  room  in  the  house,  both  by 
day  and  by  night,  with  lights  and  without,  and  have  sat  alone  for  some 
time,  and  when  I  heard  the  noise,  spoke  to  it  to  tell  me  what  it  was,  but 
never  heard  any  articulate  voice,  and  only  once  or  twice  two  or  three 
feeble  squeaks,  a  little  louder  than  the  chirping  of  a  bird  :  but  not  like 
the  noise  of  rats,  which  I  have  often  heard. 

"  I  had  designed  on  Friday,  December  the  28th,  to  make  a  visit  to  a 
friend,  Mr.  Downs,  at  Normandy,  and  stay  some  days  with  him :  but 
the  noises  were  so  boisterous  on  Thursday  night,  that  I  did  not  care  to 
leave  my  family.  So  I  went  to  Mr.  Hoole,  of  Haxey,  and  desired  his 
company  on  Friday  night.  He  came  ;  and  it  began  after  ten,  a  little 
later  than  ordinary.  The  younger  children  were  gone  to  bed,  the  rest 
of  the  family  and  Mr.  Hoole  were  together  in  the  matted  chamber.  I 
sent  the  servants  down  to  fetch  in  some  fuel,  went  with  them,  and  stayed 
in  the  kitchen  till  they  came  in.  When  they  were  gone,  I  heard  loud 
noises  against  the  doors  and  partition  ;  and  at  length  the  usual  signal, 
though  somewhat  after  the  time.  I  had  never  heard  it  before :  but 
knew  it  by  the  description  my  daughter  had  given  me.  It  was  much 
like  the  turning  about  of  a  windmill  when  the  wind  changes.  W  hen 
the  servants  returned,  I  went  up  to  the  company,  who  had  heard  the 
other  noises  below,  but  not  the  signal.  We  heard  all  the  knocking 
as  usual,  from  one  chamber  to  another,  but  at  its  going  off,  like  the 
rubbing  of  a  beast  against  the  wall :  but  from  that  time  till  January  the 
24th,  we  were  quiet. 

"  Having  received  a  letter  from  Samuel  the  day  before  relating  to  it, 
I  read  what  I  had  written  of  it  to  my  family ;  and  this  day  at  morning 
prayer  the  family  heard  the  usual  knocks  at  the  prayer  for  the  king.  At 
night  they  were  more  distinct,  both  in  the  prayer  for  the  king,  and  that 
for  the  prince  ;  and  one  very  loud  knock  at  the  amtn  was  heard  by  my 
wife,  and  most  of  my  children,  at  the  inside  of  my  bed.  I  heard  nothing 
myself.  After  nine,  Robert  Brown  sitting  alone  by  the  fire  in  the  back 
kitchen,  something  came  out  of  the  copper  hole  like  a  rabbit,  but  less, 
and  turned  round  five  times  very  swiftly.  Its  ears  lay  flat  upon  its 
neck,  and  its  little  scut  stood  straight  up.  He  ran  after  it  with  the 
tongs  in  his  hands ;  but  when  he  could  find  nothing,  he  was  frighted, 
and  went  to  the  maid  in  the  parlour. 

"  On  Friday,  the  25th,  having  prayers  at  Church,  I  shortened,  as 
usua!,  those  in  the  family  at  morning,  omitting  the  confession,  absolution, 
and  prayers  for  the  king  and  prince.  I  observed,  when  this  is  done, 
there  is  no  knocking.  I  therefore  used  them  one  morning  for  a  trial ; 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  115 

at  the  name  of  King  George,  it  began  to  knock  and  did  the  same  when 
I  prayed  for  the  prince.  Two  knocks  I  heard,  but  took  no  notice  after 
prayers,  till  after  all  who  were  in  the  room,  ten  persons  beside  roe, 
spoke  of  it,  and  said  they  heard  it.  No  noise  at  all  the  rest  of  the 
prayers. 

"  Sunday,  January  27.  Two  soft  strokes  at  the  morning  prayers  for 
King  George,  above  stairs. 

"  Addenda. 

"  Friday,  December  21.  Knocking  I  heard  first,  I  think,  this  night ; 
to  which  disturbances,  I  hope,  God  will  in  his  good  time  put  an  end. 

"  Sunday,  December  23.  Not  much  disturbed  with  the  noises  that 
are  now  grown  customary  to  me. 

"  Wednesday,  December  26.  Sat  up  to  hear  noises.  Strange ! 
spoke  to  it,  knocked  off. 

"  Friday  28.     The  noises  very  boisterous  and  disturbing  this  night. 

"  Saturday  29.  Not  frighted  with  the  continued  disturbance  of  my 
family. 

"  Tuesday,  January  1,  1717.  My  family  have  had  no  disturbance 
since  I  went." 


NARRATIVE 

Drawn  up  by  JVfr.  John  Wesley,  and  published  by  him  in  the  Jlrmi- 
nian  Magazine. 

WHEN  I  was  very  young,  I  heard  several  letters  read,  wrote  to  my 
elder  brother  by  my  father,  giving  an  account  of  strange  disturbances, 
which  were  in  his  house  at  Epworth,  in  Lincolnshire. 

When  I  went  down  thither,  in  the  year  1720,  I  carefully  inquired 
into  the  particulars.  I  spoke  to  each  of  the  persons  who  were  then 
in  the  house,  and  took  down  what  each  could  testify  of  his  or  her  own 
knowledge.  The  sum  of  which  was  this  :— 

On  Dec.  2,  1716,  while  Robert  Brown,  my  father's  servant,  was 
sitting  with  one  of  the  maids  a  littlu  before  ten  at  night,  in  the  dining 
room  which  opened  into  the  garden,  they  both  heard  one  knocking 
at  the  door.  Robert  rose  and  opened  it,  but  could  see  nobody. 
Quickly  it  knocked  again,  and  groaned.  "  It  is  Mr.  Turpine,"  said 
Robert :  "  he  has  the  stone,  and  uses  to  groan  so."  He  opened  the 
door  again  twice  or  thrice,  the  knocking  being  twice  or  thrice  repeated. 
But  still  seeing  nothing,  and  being  a  little  startled,  they  rose  and  went 
up  to  bed.  When  Robert  came  to  the  top  of  the  garret  stairs,  he  saw 
a  handmill  which  was  at  a  little  distance,  whirled  about  very  swiftly, 
When  he  related  this,  he  said,  "  Nought  vexed  me,  but  that  it  was 
empty.  I  thought,  if  it  had  been  but  full  of  malt  he  might  have  ground  his 
heart  out  for  me."  When  he  was  in  bed,  he  heard  as  it  were  the  gobbling 
of  a  turkey-cock,  close  to  the  bed-side:  and  soon  after,  the  sound  of 
one  stumbling  over  bis  shoes  and  boots,  but  there  were  none  there  ; 
he  had  them  left  below.  The  next  day,  he  and  the  maid  related  theso 
things  to  the  other  maid,  who  laughed  heartily,  and  said,  "  What  a 


116  OP  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

couple  of  fools  are  you  !  I  defy  any  thing  to  fright  me."  After  churn- 
ing in  the  evening,  she  put  the  butter  in  the  tray,  and  had  no  sooner 
carried  it  into  the  dairy,  than  she  heard  a  knocking  on  the  shelf  where 
several  puncheons  of  milk  stood,  first  above  the  shelf,  then  below. 
She  took  the  candle,  and  searched  both  above  and  below ;  but  being 
able  to  find  nothing,  threw  down  butter,  tray,  and  all,  andi  run  away 
for  life.  The  next  evening  between  five  and  six  o'clock  my  sister 
Molly,  then  about  twenty  years  of  age,  sitting' in  the  dining  room,  read- 
ing, heard  as  if  it  were  the  door  that  led  into  the  hall  open,  and  a  per- 
son walking  in,  that  seemed  to  have  on  a  silk  night-gown,  rustling  and 
trailing  along.  It  seemed  to  walk  round  her,  then  to  the  door,  then 
round  again  :  but  she  could  see  nothing.  She  thought,  "  it  signifies  no- 
thing to  run  away;  for  whatever  it  is,  it  can  run  faster  than  me."  So  she 
rose,  put  her  book  under  her  arm,  and  walked  slowly  away.  After  supper, 
she  was  sitting  with  my  sister  Sukey,  (about  a  year  older  than  her,)  in 
one  of  the  chambers,  and  telling  her  what  had  happened,  she  quite 
made  light  of  it;  telling  her,  "  I  wonder  you  are  so  easily  frighted  ;  I 
would  fain  see  what  would  fright  me."  Presently  a  knocking  began 
under  the  table.  She  took  the  candle  and  looked,  but  could  find 
nothing.  Then  the  iron  casement  began  to  clatter,  and  the  lid  of  a 
warming  pan.  Next  the  latch  of  the  door  moved  up  and  down  without 
ceasing.  She  started  up,  leaped  into  the  bed  without  undressing,  pulled 
the  bed  clothes  over  her  head,  and  never  ventured  to  look  up  till  next 
morning.  A  night  or  two  after,  my  sister  Hetty,  a  year  younger  than 
my  sister  Molly,  was  waiting  as  usual  between  nine  and  ten,  to  take 
away  my  father's  candle,  when  she  heard  one  coming  down  the  garret 
stairs,  walking  slowly  by  her,  then  going  down  the  best  stairs,  then  up 
the  back  stairs,  and  up  the  garret  stairs.  And  at  every  step  it  seemed 
the  house  shook  from  top  to  bottom.  Just  then  my  father  knocked. 
She  went  in,  took  his  candle,  and  got  to  bed  as  fast  as  possible.  In  the 
morning  she  told  this  to  my  eldest  sister,  who  told  her,  "  You  know, 
I  believe  none  of  these  things.  Pray  let  me  take  away  the  candle  to- 
night, and  I  will  find  out  the  trick."  She  accordingly  took  my  sister 
Hetty's  place  ;  and  had  no  sooner  taken  away  the  candle,  than  she  heard 
a  noise  below.  She  hastenefl  down  stairs  to  the  hall,  where  the  noise 
was.  But  it  was  then  in  the  kitchen.  She  ran  into  the  kitchen,  where 
it  was  drumming  on  the  inside  of  the  screen.  When  she  went  round  it 
was  drumming  on  the  outside,  and  so  always  on  the  side  opposite  to  her. 
Then  she  heard  a  knocking  at  the  back  kitchen  door.  She  ran  to  it ; 
unlocked  it  softly  ;  and  when  the  knocking  was  repeated,  suddenly 
opened  it :  but  nothing  was  to  be  seen.  As  soon  as  she  had  shut  it,  the 
knocking  began  again.  She  opened  it  again,  but  could  see  nothing  : 
when  she  went  to  shut  the  door,  it  was  violently  thrust  against  her  ;  she 
let  it  fly  open,  but  nothing  appeared.  She  went  again  to  shut  it,  and 
it  was  again  thrust  against  her ;  but  she  set  her  knee  and  her  shoulder 
to  the  door,  forced  it  too,  and  turned  the  key.  Then  the  knocking  be- 
gan again  ;  but  she  let  it  go  on,  and  went  up  to  bed.  However,  from 
that  time  she  was  thoroughly  convinced  that  there  was  no  imposture  in 
the  affair. 

The  next  morning  my  sister  telling  my  mother  what  had  happened, 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  F.PWORTH.  117 

she  said,  "  If  I  hear  any  thing  myself,  I  shall  know  how  to  judge." 
Soon  after,  she  begged  her  to  come  into  the  nursery.  She  did,  and 
heard  in  the  corner  of  the  room,  as  it  were  the  violent  rocking  of  a  cra- 
dle :  but  no  cradle  had  been  there  for  some  years.  She  was  convinced 
it  was  preternatural,  and  earnestly  prayed  it  might  not  disturb  her 
in  her  own  chamber  at  the  hours  of  retirement ;  and  it  never  did.  She 
now  thought  it  was  proper  to  tell  my  father.  But  he  was  extremely 
angry,  and  said,  "  Sukey,  I  am  ashamed  of  you  :  these  boys  and  girls 
fright  one  another  :  but  you  are  a  woman  of  sense  and  should  know 
better.  Let  me  hear  of  it  no  more." 

At  six  in  the  evening,  he  had  family  prayers  as  usual.  When  he 
began  the  prayer  for  the  king,  a  knocking  began  all  round  the  room  ; 
and  a  thundering  knock  attended  the  amen.  The  same  was  heard  from 
this  time  every  morning  and  evening,  while  the  prayer  for  the  king  was 
repeated.  As  both  my  father  and  mother  are  now  at  rest,  and  incapa- 
ble of  being  pained  thereby,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  furnish  the  serious 
reader  with  a  key  to  this  circumstance. 

The  year  before  King  William  died,  my  father  observed  my  mother 
did  not  say  amen  to  the  prayer  for  the  king.  She  said  she  could  not : 
for  she  did  not  believe  the  prince  of  Orange  was  king.  He  vowed  he 
never  would  cohabit  with  her  till  she  did.  He  then  took  his  horse,  and 
rode  away  ;  nor  did  she  hear  any  thing  of  him  for  a  twelvemonth.  He 
then  came  back,  and  lived  with  her  as  before.  But  I  fear  his  vow  was 
not  forgotten  before  God. 

Being  informed  that  Mr.  Hoole,  the  vicar  of  Haxey  (an  eminently 
pious  and  sensible  man)  could  give  me  some  farther  information,  I 
walked  over  to  him.  He  said,  "  Robert  Brown  came  over  to  me,  and 
told  me  your  father  desired  my  company.  When  I  came,  he  gave  me 
an  account  of  all  that  had  happened  ;  particularly  the  knocking  during 
family  prtfyer.  But  that  evening  (to  my  great  satisfaction)  we  had  no 
knocking  at  all.  But  between  nine  and  ten  a  servant  came  in  and  said, 
4  Old  Jeffries  is  coming,'  (that  was  the  name  of  one  that  died  Jn  the 
house,)  '  for  I  hear  the  signal.'  This  they  inform  me  was  heard  every 
night  about  a  quarter  before  ten.  It  was  toward  the  top  of  the  house 
on  the  outside,  at  the  north-east  corner  ,'resembling  the  loud  creaking 
of  a  saw  ;  or  rather  that  of  a  windmill,  when  the  body  of  it  is  turned 
about,  in  order  to  shift  the  sails  to  the  wind.  We  then  heard  a  knock- 
ing over  our  heads;  and  Mr.  Wesley  catching  up  a  candle,  said,  'Come, 
sir,  now  you  shall  hear  for  yourself.'  We  went  up  stairs  ;  he  with  much 
hope,  and  I  (to  say  the  truth)  with  much  fear.  When  we  came  into 
the  nursery,  it  was  knocking  in  the  next  room  ;  when  we  were  there, 
it  vras  knocking  in  the  nursery.  And  there  it  continued  to  knock, 
though  we  came  in,  particularly  at  the  head  of  the  bed  (which  was  of 
wood)  in  which  Miss  Hetty  and  two  of  her  younger  sisters  lay.  Mr. 
Wesley,  observing  that  they,were  much  affected  though  asleep, sweating, 
and  trembling  exceedingly,  was  very  nngry  ;  and  pulling  out  a  pistol, 
was  going  to  fire  at  the  place  from  whence  the  sound  came.  But  I 
catched  him  by  the  arm,  and  said, '  Sir,  you  are  convinced  this  i-s  some- 
thing preternatural.  If  so,  you  cannot  hurt  it :  but  you  give  it  p«»\v.  i 
to  hurt  you.'  He  then  went  close  to  the  place,  and  said  sternly,  -  Thou 


118  »       OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

deaf  and  dumb  devil,  why  dost  thou  fright  these  children,  that  cannot 
answer  for  themselves?  Come  to  me  in  my  study  that  am  a  man.' 
Instantly  it  knocked  his  knock  (the  particular  knock  which  he  always 
used  at  the  gate)  as  if  it  would  shiver  the  board  in  pieces,  and  we  heard 
nothing  more  that  night."  Till  this  time,  my  father  had  never  heard 
the  least  disturbances  in  his  study.  But  the  next  evening,  as  he  at- 
tempted to  go  into  his  study,  (of  which  none  had  any  key  but  himself,) 
when  he  opened  the  door,  it  was  thrust  back  with  such  violence,  as 
had  like  to  have  thrown  him  down.  However,  he  thrust  the  door 
open,  and  went  in.  Presently  there  was  knocking  first  on  one  side, 
then  on  the  other;  and  after  a  time,  in  the  next  room  wherein  my  sister 
Nancy  was.  He  went  into  that  room,  and  (the  noise  continuing)  ad- 
jured it  to  speak;  but  in  vain.  He  then  said,  "These  spirits  love 
darkness  :  put  out  the  candle,  and  perhaps  it  will  speak."  She  did  so: 
and  he  repeated  his  adjuration  ;  but  still  there  was  only  knocking,  and 
no  articulate  sound.  Upon  this  he  said,  "Nancy,  two  Christians  are 
an  overmatch  for  the  devil.  Go  all  of  you  down  stairs  ;  it  may"  be, 
when  I  am  alone,  he  wm  have  courage  to  speak."  When  she  was  gone 
a  thought  came  in,  and  he  said,  "  If  thou  art  the  spirit  of  my  son  Sam- 
uel, I  pray  knock  three  knocks  and  no  more."  Immediately  all  was 
silence;  and  there  was  no  more  knocking  at  all  that  night.  I  asked  my 
sister  Nancy  (then  about  fifteen  years  old)  whether  she  was  not  afraid, 
when  my  father  used  that  adjuration  ?  She  answered,  she  was  sadly 
afraid  it  would  speak,  when  she  put  out  the  candle  ;  but  she  was  not 
at  all  afraid  in  the  day-time,  when  it  walked  after  her,  as  she  swept  the 
chambers,  as  it  constantly  did,  and  seemed  to  sweep  after  her.  Only 
she  thought  he  might  have  done  it  for  her  and  saved  her  the  trouble. 
By  this  time  all  my  sisters  were  so  accustomed  to  these  noises,  that 
they  gave  them  little  disturbance.  A  gentle  tapping  at  their  bed-head 
usually  began  between  nine  and  ten  at  night.  They  then  commonly 
said  to  each  other,  "  Jeffrey  is  coming  :  it  is  time  to  go  to  sleep." 
And  if  they  heard  a  noise  in  the  day,  and  said  to  my  youngest  sister, 
*'  Hark,  Kezzy,  Jeffrey  is  knocking  above,"  she  M'ould  run  up  stairs, 
and  pursue  it  from  room  to  room,  saying,  she  desired  no  better  diver- 
sion. 

A  few  nights  after,  my  father  and  mother  were  just  gone  to  bed,  and 
the  candle  was  not  taken  away,  when  they  heard  three  blows,  and  a 
second,  and  a  third  three,  as  it  were  with  a  large  oaken  staff,  struck 
upon  a  chest  which  stood  by  the  bed-side.  My  father  immediately 
arose,  put  on  his  night-gown,  and  hearing  great  noises  below,  took  the 
candle  and  went  down  :  my  mother  walked  by  his  side.  As  they  went 
down  the  broad  stairs,  they  heard  as  if  a  vessel  of  silver  was  poured 
upon  rny  mother's  breast,  and  ran  jingling  down  to  her  feet.  Quickly 
after  there  was  a  sound,  as  if  a  large  iron  ball  was  thrown  among 
many  bottles  under  the  stairs  ;  but  nothing  was  hurt.  Soon  after,  our 
large  mastiff  dog  came  and  ran  to  shelter  himself  between  them. 
While  the  disturbances  continued,  he  used  to  bark  and  leap,  and  snap 
on  one  side  and  the  other ;  and  that  frequently  before  any  person  in  the 
room  heard  any  noise'  at  all.  But  after  two  or  three  days,  he  used  to 
tremble,  and  creep  away  frefore  the  noise  began.  And  by  this  the 


SAMUEL   \\ESLEV,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  119 

family  knew  it  was  at  hand ;  nor  did  the  observation  ever  fail.  A  little 
before  my  father  and  mother  came  into  the  hall,  it  seemed  as  if  a  very 
large  coal  was  violently  thrown  upon  the  floor  ana  dashed  .all  in  pieces  : 
but  nothing  was  seen.  My  father  then  cried  out,  "  Sukey,  do  you  not 
hear  ?  All  the  pewter  is  thrown  about  the  kitchen."  But  when  they 
looked,  all  the  pewter  stood  in  fts  place.  There/  then  was  a  loud 
knocking  at  the  back  door.  My  tilths-opened  it,  but  saw  nothing.  It 
was  then  at  the  fore  door.  He  operfW  that,  but  it  was  still  lost  labour. 
After  opening  first  the  one,  then-'the  other,  several  times,  he  turned 
and  went  up  to  bed.  But  the  noises  were  so  violent  all  over  the 
house,  that  he  could  not  sleep  till  four  in  the  morning. 

Several  gentlemen  and  clergymen  now  earnestly  advised  my  father 
to  quit  the  house.  But  he  constantly  answered,  "  No ;  let  the  devil 
flee  from  me  :  I  will  never  flee  from  the  devil."  But  he  wrote  to  my 
eldest  brother  at  London  to  come  down.  He  was  preparing  so  to  do, 
when  another  letter  came,  informing  him  the  disturbances  were  over ; 
after  (hey  had  continued  (the  latter  part  of  the  time  day  and  night)  from 
the  second  of  December  to  the  end  of  January. 


LETTERS 

CONCERNING    SOME    SUPERNATURAL   DISTURBANCES  AT    THE   PARSONAGE  HOUSE 
AT  EPWORTH,  IN  LINCOLNSHIRE. 
• 

LETTER  I. — To  JVfr.  Samuel  Wesley,  from  his  Mother. 

January  12,  1716-7. 

"  DEAR  SAM, — This  evening  we  were  agreeably  surprised  with  your 
pacquet,  which  brought  the  welcome  news  of  your  being  alive,  after  we 
had  been  in  the  greatest  panic  imaginable,  almost  a  month,  thinking 
either  you  was  dead,  or  one  of  your  brothers  by  some  misfortune  been 
killed. 

"  The  reason  of  our  fears  is  as  follows  : — On  the  first  of  December 
our  maid  heard  at  the  door  of  the  dining  room,  several  dismal  groans, 
like  a  person  in  extremes,  at  the  point  of  death.  We  gave  little  heed 
to  her  relation,  and  endeavoured  to  laugh  her  out  of  her  fears.  Some 
nights  (two  or  three)  after,  several  of  the  family  heard  a  strange  knock- 
ing in  divers  places,  usually  three  or  four  knocks  at  a  time,  and  then 
stayed  a  little.  This  continued  every  night  for  a  fortnight ;  sometimes 
it  was  in  the  garret,  but  most  commonly  in  the  nursery,  or  green  cham- 
ber. We  all  heard  it  but  your  father,  and  I  was  not  willing  he  should 
be  informed  of  it  lest  he  should  fancy  it  was  against  his  own  deatht 
which,  indeed,  we  all  apprehended.  But  when  it  began  to  be  so  trou- 
blesome, both  day  and  night,  that  few  or  none  of  the  family  durst  be 
alone,  I  resolved  to  tell  him  of  it,  being  minded  he  should  speak  to  it. 
At  first  he  would  not  believe  but  soinebody  did  it  to  alarm  us  ;  but  the 
night  after,  as  soon  as  he  was  in  bed,  it  knocked  loudly  nine  times,  just 
by  his  bed-side.  He  rose,  and  went  to  see  if  he  co  Jd  find  out  what  it 
was,  but  could  see  nothing.  Afterward  he  heard  it  as  the  rest. 

"  One  night  it  made  such  a  noise  in  the  room  over  our  heads  aa  if 


120  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

several  people  were  walking^  then  run  up  and  down  stairs,  and  was  so 
outrageous  that  we  thought  the  children  would  be  frighted ;  so  your 
father  and  I  rose,  and  went  down  in  the  dark  to  light  a  candle.  Just 
as  we  came  to  the  bottom  of  the  broad  stairs,  having  hold  of  each  other, 
on  my  side  there  seemed  as  if  somebody  had  emptied  a  bag  of  money 
at  my  feet ;  and  on  his,  as  if  all  the  bottles  under  the  stairs  (which  were 
many)  had  been  dashed  in  a  thousand  pieces.  We  passed  through  the 
hall  into  the  kitchen,  and  got  a  candle,  and  went  to  see  the  children, 
whom  we  found  asleep. 

"  The  next  night  your  father  would  get  Mr.  Hoole  to  lie  at  our  house, 
and  we  all  sat  together  till  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  heard 
the  knocking  as  usual.  Sometimes  it  would  make  a  noise  like  the 
winding  up  of  a  jack,  at  other  times,  as  that  night  Mr.  Hoole  was  with 
us,  like  a  carpenter  planing  deals ;  but  most  commonly  it  knocked 
thrice  and  stopped,  and  then  thrice  again,  and  so  many  hours  together. 
We  persuaded  your  father  to  speak,  and  try  if  any  voice  would  be  heard. 
One  night  about  six  o'clock  he  went  into  the  nursery  in  the  dark,  and 
at  first  heard  several  deep  groans,  then  knocking.  He  adjured  it  to 
speak  if  it  had  power,  and  tell  him  why  it  troubled  his  house,  but  no 
voice  was  heard,  but  it  knocked  thrice  aloud.  Then  he  questioned  it 
if  it  were  Sammy  ;  and  bid  it,  if  it  were  and  could  not  speak,  knock 
again,  but  it  knoqked  no  more  that  night,  which  made  us  hope  it  was 
not  against  your  death. 

"  Thus  it  continued  till  the  28th  of  December,  when  it  loudly  knock- 
ed (as  your  father  used  to  do  at  the  gate)  in  the  nursery,  and  departed. 
We  have  various  conjectures  what  this  may  mean.  For  my  own  part, 
I  fear  nothing  now  you  are  safe  at  London  hitherto,  and  I  hope  God 
will  still  preserve  you.  Though  sometimes  I  am  inclined  to  think  my 
brother  is  dead.  Let  me  know  your  thoughts  on  it. 

"S.  W.» 

LETTER  II. — From  JVIr.  S.  JVesey  to  his  Father. 

"  January  30,  Saturday. 

"  HONOURED  SIR, — My  mother  tells  me  a  very  strange  story  of  dis- 
turbances in  your  house.  I  wish  I  could  have  some  more  particulars 
from  you.  I  would  thank  Mr.  Hoole  if  he  would  favour  me  with  a 
letter  concerning  it.  Not  that  I  want  to  be  confirmed  myself  in  the 
belief  of  it,  but  for  any  other  person's  satisfaction.  My  mother  sends 
to  me  to  know  my  thoughts  of  it,  and  I  cannot  think  at  all  of  any  inter? 
pretation.  Wit,  I  fancy,  might  find  many,  but  wisdom  none. 
"  Your  dutiful  and  loving  son, 

"  S.  WESLEY." 

LETTER  III. — From  Mr.  S.  Wesley  to  his  Moiher. 

"  DEAR  MOTHER, — Those  who  are  so  wise  as  not  to  believe  any 
supernatural  occurrences,  though  ever  so  well  attested,  could  find  a 
hundred  questions  to  ask  about  those  strange  noises  you  wrote  mo  an 
account  of;  but  for  my  part,  I  know  not  what  question  to  put,  which, 
if  answered,  would  confirm  me  more  in  the  belief  of  what  you  tell  mo. 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,   RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  121 

Two  or  three  I  have  heard  from  others.  Was  there  never  a  new  maid, 
or  man  in  the  house  that  might  play  tricks  ?  Was  there  nobody  above 
in  the  garrets  when  the  walking  was  there  ?  Did  all  the  family  hear  it 
together  when  they  were  in  one  room,  or  at  one  time  1  Did  it  seem  to 
all  to  be  in  the  same  place,  at  the  same  time?  Could  not  cats,  or  rats, 
or  dogs,  be  the  sprights  ?  Was  the  whole  family  asleep  when  my  father 
and  you  went  down  stairs  ?  Such  doubts  as  these  being  replied  to,  though 
they  could  not,  as  God  himself  assures  us,  convince  them  who  believe 
not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  yet  would  strengthen  such  as  do  believe. 
As  to  my  particular  opinion  concerning  the  events  foreboded  by  these 
noises,  I  cannot,  I  must  confess,  form  any; — I  think  since  it  was  not 
permitted  to  speak,  all  guesses  must  be  vain.  The  end  of  spirits' 
actions  is  yet  more  hidden  than  that  of  men,  and  even  this  latter  puzzles 
the  most  subtle  politicians.  That  we  may  be  struck  so  as  to  prepare 
seriously  for  any  ill,  may,  it  is  possible,  be  one  design  of  Providence. 
It  is  surely  our  duty  and  wisdom  to  do  so. 

"  Dear  mother,  I  beg  your  blessing  on  your  dutiful  and  affectionate 
son,  S.  WESLEV. 

"Jan.  19,  1716-7,  Saturday,    ) 
Dean'*  Yard,  Westminster.     $ 

"  I  expect  a  particular  account  from  every  one." 

*•' 
J/BTTER  IV. — From  J\lrs.  Wesley  to  her  son  Samuel. 

"Jan.  25,  or  27,  1716-7. 

"  DEAR  SAM, — Though  I  am  not  one  of  those  that  will  believe 
nothing  supernatural,  but  I  am  rather  inclined  to  think  there  would  be 
frequent  intercourse  between  good  spirits  and  us  did  not  our  deep  lapse 
into  sensuality  prevent  it ;  yet  I  was  a  great  while  e'er  I  could  credit 
any  thing  of  what  the  children  and  servants  reported  concerning  the 
noises  they  heard  in  several  parts  of  our  house.  Nay*  after  I  had  heard 
them  myself,  I  was  willing  to  persuade  myself  and  them  that  it  was  only 
rats  or  weasels  that  disturbed  us ;  and  having  been  formerly  troubled 
with  rats,  which  were  frighted  away  by  sounding  a  horn»  I  caused  a 
horn  to  be  procured,  and  made  them  blow  it  all  over  the  house.  But 
from  that  night  they  began  to  blow,  the  noises  were  more  loud  and 
distinct,  both  day  and  night,  than  before,  and  that  night  we  rose  and 
went  down  I  was  entirely  convinced  that  it  was  beyond  the  power  of 
any  human  creature  to  make  such  strange  and  various  noises. 

j^As  to  your  questions,  I  will  answer  them  particularly  :  but  withal 
I  desire  my  answers  may  satisfy  none  but  yourself;  for  I  would  not 
have  the  matter  imparted  to  any.  We  had  both  man  and  maid  new 
this  last  Martinmas,  yet  I  do  not  believe  either  of  them  occasioned  the 
disturbance,  both  for  the  reason  above  mentioned,  and  because  they 
were  more  affjrighted  than  any  body  else.  Beside,  we  have  often  heard 
the  noises  when  they  were  in  the  room  by  us  ;  and  the  maid  particularly 
was  in  such  a  panic  that  she  was,  almost  incapable  of  all  business,  nor 

^another,  or  stay  by  herself  a  minute 


durst  ever  go  from  one  room  to  ar 
after  it  began  to  be  dark. 

16 


122  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"  The  man,  Robert  Brown,  whom  you  well  know,  was  most  visited 
by  it  lying  in  the  garret,  and  has  been  often  frighted  down  barefoot, 
and  almost  naked,  not  daring  to  stay  alone  to  put  on  his  clothes ;  nor 
do  I  think,  if  he  had  power,  he  would  be  guilty  of  such  villany.  When 
the  walking  was  heard  in  the  garret,  Robert  was  in  bed  in  the  next 
room,  in  a  sleep  so  sound,  that  he  never  heard  your  father  and  me  walk 
up  and  down,  though  we  walked  not  softly  I  am  sure.  All  the  family 
has  heard  it  together,  in  the  same  room,  at  the  same  time,  particularly 
at  family  prayers.  It  always  seemed  to  all  present  in  the  same  place 
at  the  same  time ;  though  often  before  any  could  say  it  is  here,  it 
would  remove  to  another  place. 

"  All  the  family  as  well  as  Robin  were  asleep  when  your  father  and 
I  went  down  stairs,  nor  did  they  wake  in  the  nursery  when  we  held  the 
candle  close  by  them  ;  only  we  observed  that  Hetty  trembled  exceed- 
ingly in  her  sleep,  as  she  always  did,  before  the  noise  awaked  her.  It 
commonly  was  nearer  her  than  the  rest,  which  she  took  notice  of;  and 
was  much  frightened,  because  she  thought  it  had  a  particular  spite  at 
her.  I  could  multiply  particular  instances,  but  I  forbear.  I  believe 
your  father  will  write  to  you  about  it  shortly.  Whatever  may  be  the 
design  of  Providence  in  permitting  these  things,  I  cannot  say.  Secret 
things  belojig  to  God :  but  I  entirely  agree  with  you,  that  it  is  our 
wisdom  and  duty  to  prepare  seriously  for  all  events. 

"  S.  WESLEY." 

LETTER  V. — From  Miss  Susannah  Wesley  to  her  brother  Samuel. 

Epworth,  Jan.  24. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER, — About  the  first  of  December,  a  most  terrible 
and  astonishing  noise  was  heard  by  a  maid-servant,  as  at  the  dining 
room  door,  which  caused  the  upstarting  of  her  hair,  and  made  herears 
prick  forth  at  an  unusual  rate.  She  said  it  was  like  the  groans  of  one 
expiring.  These  so  frighted  her,  that  for  a  great  while  she  durst  not 
go  out  of  one  room  into  another,  after  it  began  to  be  dark,  without 
company.  But,  to  lay  aside  jesting,  which  should  not  be  done  in 
serious  matters,  I  assure  you  that  from  the  first  to  the  last  of  a  lunar 
month,  the  groans,  squeaks,  tinglings,  and  knockings,  were  frightful 
enough. 

"  Though  it  is  needless  for  me  to  send  you  any  account  of  what  we 
all  heard,  my  father  himself  having  a  larger  account  of  the  matter  than 
I  am  able  to  give,  which  he  designs  to  send  you ;  yet,  in  compliance 
with  your  desire,  I  will  tell  you  as  briefly  as  I  can,  what  I  heard  of  it. 
The  first  night  I  ever  heard  it,  my  sister  Nancy  and  I  were  set  in  the 
dining  room.  We  heard  something  rush  on  the  outside  of  the  doors 
that  opened  into  the  garden  ;  then  three  loud  knocks,  immediately  after 
other  three,  and  in  half  a  minute  the  same  number  over  our  heads.  Wre 
inquired  whether  any  body  had  been  in  the  garden,  or  in  the  room  above 
us  :  but  there  was  nobody.  Soon  after  my  sister  Molly  and  I  were  up 
after  all  the  family  were  a-bed,  except  my  sister  Nancy,  about  some 
business.  Wre  heard  three  bouncing  thumps  under  our  feet  which  soon 
made  us  throw  away  our  work,  and  tumble  into  bed.  Afterward  the 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  123 

tingling  of  the  latch  and  warming  pan,  and  so  it  took  us  leave  that 
night. 

"  Soon  after  the  above  mentioned,  we  heard  a  noise  as  if  a  great  piece 
of  sounding  metal  was  thrown  down  on"  the  outside  of  our  chamber. 
We,  lying  in  the  quietest  part  of  the  house,  heard  less  than  the  rest  for 
a  pretty  while  :  but  the  latter  end  of  the  night  that  Mr.  Hoole  sat  up 
on,  I  lay  in  the  nursery,  where  it  was  very  violent.  I  then  heard  fre- 
quent knocks  over  and  under  the  room  where  I  lay,  and  at  the  children's 
bed  head,  which  was  made  of  boards.  It  seemed  to  rap  against  it 
very  hard  and  loud,  so  that  the  bed  shook  under  them.  I  heard  some- 
thing walk  by  my  bedside,  like  a  man  in  a  long  night  gown.  The 
knocks  were  so  loud,  that  Mr.  Hoole  came  out  of  their  chamber  to  us* 
It  still  continued.  My  father  spoke,  but  nothing  answered.  It  ended 
that  night  with  my  father's  particular  knock,  very  fierce. 

"  It  is  now  pretty  quiet ;  only  at  our  repeating  the  prayers  for  the 
king  and  prince,  when  it  usually  begins,  especially  when  my  father  says, 
'  Our  most  gracious  sovereign  lord,'  &c.  This  my  father  is  angry 
at,  and  designs  to  say  three  instead  of  two  for  the  royal  family.  We 
all  heard  the  same  noise,  and  at  the  same  time,  and  as  coming  from 
the  same  place.  To  conclude  this,  it  now  makqs  its  personal  appear- 
ance :  but  of  this  more  hereafter.  Do  not  say  one  word  of  this  to  our 
folks,  nor  give  the  least  hint. 

"  I  am  your  sincere  friend  and  affectionate  sister, 

"  SUSANNAH  WESLET." 

LETTER  VI. — Mr.  S.  Wesley  in  answer. 

"Dean's  Yard,  Feb.  9,  1716-7. 

"  DEAR  SISTER  SUKEY, — Your  telling  me  the  spirit  has  made  its 
personal  appearance,  without  saying  how,  or  to  whom,  or  when,  or  how 
long,  has  excited  my  curiosity  very  much.  I  long  mightily  for  a  farther 
account  of  every  circumstance  by  your  next  letter.  Do  not  keep  me 
any  longer  in  the  dark.  Why  need  you  write  the  less,  because  my 
father  is  to  send  me  the  whole  story  1  Has  the  disturbance  continued 
since  the  28th  of  December]  I  understand  my  father  did  not  hear  it 
all ;  but  a  fortnight  after  the  rest.  What  did  he  say  remarkable  to  any 
of  you  when  he  did  hear  ill  As  to  the  devil's  being  an  enemy  to  King 
George,  were  I  the  king  myself,  I  should  rather  old  Nick  should  be  my 
enemy,  than  my  friend.  I  do  not  like  the  noise  of  the  night  gown 
sweeping  along  the  ground,  nor  its  knocking  like  my  father.  Write 
when  you  receive  this,  though  nobody  else  should,  to  your  loving 
brother,  S.  W." 

LETTER  VII.— Mr.  S.  Wesley  to  his  Mother. 

"  DEAR  MOTHER, — You  say  you  could  multiply  particular  instances 
of  the  spirit's  noises :  but  I  want  to  know  whether  nothing  was  ever 
seen  by  any.  .For  though  it  is  hard  to  conceive,  nay,  morally  impossible, 
that  the  hearing  of  so  many  people  could  be  deceived,  yet  the  truth  will 
be  still  more  manifest  and  undeniable,  if  it  is  grounded  on  the  testimony 
of  two  senses.  Has  it  never  at  all  disturbed  you  since  the  2«tl 


124  or  MR.  WESLET'S  ANCESTORS. 

December?    Did  no  circumstance  give  any  light  into  the  design  of 
the  whole  ? 

"  Your  obedient  and  loving  son, 
"Feb.  12.  S.  WESLEY. 

"  Have  you  dug  in  the  place  where  the  money  seemed  poured  at 
your  feet  ?" 

LETTER  VIII — Mr.  S,  Wesley  to  his  Father. 

*'  HONOURED  SIR, — I  have  not  yet  received  any  answer  to  the  letter 
I  wrote  some  time  ago  ;  and  my  mother  m  her  last  seems  to  say,  that 
as  yet  I  know  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  whole  story  of  strange  noises 
in  our  house.  I  shall  be  exceedingly  glad  to  have  the  entire  account 
from  you.  Whatever  may  be  the  main  design  of  such  wonders,  I 
cannot  think  they  were  ever  meant  to  be  kept  secret.  If  they  bode  any 
thing  remarkable  to  our  family,  I  am  sure  I  am  a  party  concerned. 

"  Your  dutiful  son, 

"  Feb.  12.  S.  WESLEY." 

LETTER  IX. — From  Mr.  S.  Wesley  to  his  sister  Emily. 

"  DEAR  SISTER  EMILY, — I  wish  you  would  let  me  have  a  letter 
from  you  about  the  spirit,  as  indeed  from  evesy  one  of  my  sisters.  I 
cannot  think  any  of  you  very  superstitious,  unless  you  are  much  changed 
since  I  saw  you.  My  sister  Hetty,  I  find,  was  more  particularly  trou- 
bled. Let  me  know  all.  Did  any  thing  appear  to  her  ? 
"  I  am  your  affectionate  brother, 

»Feb,  12.  S,  WESLEY," 

LETTER  X. — From  old  Mr.  Wesley  to  his  son  Samuel. 

Feb.  11,  1716-7. 

"  DEAR  SAM, — As  for  the  noises,  &c.  in  our  family,  I  thank  God  we 
are  now  all  quiet.  There  were  some  surprising  circumstances  in  that 
affair.  Your  mother  has  not  written  you  a  third  part  of  it.  When  i 
see  you  here,  you  shall  see  the  whole  account,  which  I  wrote  down* 
It  would  make  a  glorious  penny  book  for  Jack  Dunton :  but  while  I 
live  I  am  not  ambitious  for  any  thing  of  that  nature.  I  think  that's  all, 
but  blessings  from 

*'  Your  loving  father, 

"  SAM.  WESLEY." 

[The  following  letter  was  received  at  the  same  time,  though  it  has 
no  date.] 

» 

LETTER  XI. — From  Miss  Emily  Wesley  to  her  brother  Samuel. 

"DEAR  BROTHER, — I  thank  you  for  your  last-  and  shall  give  you  what 
satisfaction  is  in  my  power,  concerning  what  has  happened  in  our  family. 
I  am  so  far  from  being  superstitious,  that  I  was  too  much  inclined  to> 
infidelity,  so  that  I  heartily  rejoice  at  having  such  an  opportunity  of 
convincing  myself,  past  doubt  or  scruple,  of  the  existence  of  some 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  125 

beings  beside  those  we. see.     A  whole  month  was  sufficient  to  convince 
*  any  body. of  the  reality  of  the  thing ;  and  to  try  all  ways  of  discovering 
any  trick,  had  it  been  possible  for  any  such  to  have  been  used.     I  shall 
only  tell  you  what  I  myself  heard,  and  leave  the  rest  to  others. 

"  My  "sisters  in  the  paper  chamber  had  heard  noises,  and  told  me  of 
them  :  but  I  did  not  much  believe,  till  one  night,  about  a  week  after 
the  first  groans  were  heard,  which  was  the  beginning,  just  after  the 
clock  had  struck  ten,  I  went  down  stairs  to  lock  the  doors,  which  I 
always  do.  Scarce  had  I  got  up  the  best  stairs,  when  I  heard  a  noise, 
like  a  person  throwing  down  a  vast  coal  in  the  middle  of  the  fore  kitch- 
en, and  all  the  splinters  seemed  to  fly  about  from  it.  I  was  not  much 
frighted,  but  went  to  my  sister  Sukey,  and  we  together  went  all  over 
the  low  rooms,  but  there  was  nothing  out  of  order. 

44  Our  dog  was  fast  asleep,  and  our  only  cat  in  the  other  end  of  the 
house.  No  sooner  was  I  got  up  stairs,  and  undressing  for  bed,  but  I 
heard  a  noise  among  many  bottles  that  stand  under  the  best  stairs,  just 
like  the  throwing  of  a  great  stone  among  them,  which  had  broke  them  all 
to  pieces.  This  made  me  hasten  to  bed  :  but  my  sister  Hetty,  who 
sits  always  to  wait  on  my  father  going  to  bed,  was  still  sitting  on  the 
lowest  step  on  the  garret  stairs,  the  door  being  shut  at  her  back,  when 
soon  after  there  came  down  the  stairs  behind  her  something  like  a  man, 
in  a  loose  night  gown  trailing  after  him,  which  made  her  fly  rather  than 
nm  to  me  in  the  nursery. 

"  All  this  time  we  never  told  our  father  of  it :  but  soon  after  we  did. 
He  smiled,  and  gave  no  answer,  but  was  more  careful  than  usual,  from 
that  time,  to  see  us  in  bed,  imagining  it  to  be  some  of  us  young  wo- 
men, that  sat  up  late  and  made  a  noise.  His  incredulity,  and  espe- 
cially his  imputing  it  to  us,  or  our  lovers,  made  me,  I  own,  desirous  of 
its  continuance  till  he  was  convinced.  As  for  my  mother,  she  firmly 
believed  it  to  be  rats,  and  sent  for  a  horn  to  blow  them  away.  I  laughed 
to  think  how  wisely  they  were  employed,  who  were  striving  half  a  day 
to  fright  away  Jeffrey,  for  that  name  I  gave  it,  with  a  horn. 

But  whatever  it  was,  I  perceived  it  could  be  made  angry.  For  from 
that  time  it  was  so  outrageous,  there  was  no  quiet  for  us  after  ten  at 
night.  I  heard  frequently  between  ten  and  eleven  something  like  the 
quick  winding  up  of  a  jack,  at  the  corner  of  the  room  by  my  bed's  head, 
just  like  the  running  of  the  wheels  and  the  creaking  of  the  iron  work. 
This  was  the  common  signal  of  its  coming.  Then  it  would  knock  on 
the  floor  three  times,  then  at  my  sister's  bed's  head  in  the  same  room, 
almost  always  three  together,  and  then  stay.  The  sound  was  hollow, 
and  loud,  so  as  none  of  us  could  ever  imitate. 

41  It  would  answer  to  my  mother,  if  she  stamped  on  the  floor,  and  bid 
it.  It  would  knock  when  I  was  putting  the  children  to  bed,  just  under 
me  where  I  sat.  One  time  little  Kezzy,  pretending  to  scare  Patty,  as  I 
was  undressing  them,  stamped  with  her  foot  on  the  floor,  and  imme- 
diately it  answered  with  three  knocks,  just  in  the  same  place.  It  was 
more  loud  and  fierce  if  any  one  said  it  was  rats,  or  any  thing  natural. 

**  I  could  tell  you  abundance  more  of  it :  but  the  rest  will  write,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  needless.  I  was  not  much  frighted  at  first,  and 
yery  little  at  last :  but  it  was  never  near  me,  except  two  or  three  time* ; 


126  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

and  never  followed  me,  as  it  did  my  sister  Hetty.  I  have  been  with 
her  when  it  has  knocked  under  her,  and  when  she  has  removed  has 
followed,  and  still  kept  just  under  her  feet,  which  was  enough  to  terrify 
a -stouter  person. 

"  If  you  would  know  my  opinion  of  the  reason  of  this,  I  shall  briefly 
tell  you.  I  believe  it  to  be  witchcraft,  for  these  reasons  : — About  a  year 
since,  there  was  a  disturbance  at  a  town  near  us,  that  was  undoubtedly 
witches  ;  and  if  so  near,  why  may  they  not  reach  us  ?  Then  my  father 
had  for  several  Sundays  before  its  coming  preached  warmly  against 
consulting  those  that  are  called  cunning  men,  which  our  people  are 
given  to  ;  and  it  had  a  particular  spite  at  my  father. 

"  Beside,  something  was  thrice  seen.  The  first  time  by  my  mother, 
under  my  sister's  bed,  like  a  badger,  only  without  any  head  that  was 
discernible.  The  same  creature  was  sat  by  the  dining  room  fire  one 
evening;  when  our  man  went  into  the  room,  it  run  by  him,  through 
the  hall  under  the  stairs.  He  followed  with  a  candle,  and  searched, 
but  it  was  departed.  The  last  time  he  saw  it  in  the  kitchen,  like  a 
white  rabbit,  which  seems  likely  to  be  some  witch ;  and  I  do  so  really 
believe  it  to  be  one,  that  I  would  venture  to  fire  a  pistol  at  it,  if  I  saw 
it  long  enough.  It  has  been  heard  by  me  and  others  since  December. 
I  have  filled  up  all  my  room,  and  have  only  time  to  tell  you, 

"  I  am  your  loving  sister,  EMILIA  WESLEY." 

LETTER  XII. — Miss  Susannah  Wesley  to  her  brother  Samuel. 

"  March  27. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER  WESLEY,— I  should  farther  satisfy  you  concerning 
the  disturbances:  but  it  is  rreedless,  because  my  sisters  Emilia  and  Hetty 
•write  so  particularly  about  it.  One  thing  I  believe  you  do  not  know, 
that  is,  last  Sunday,  to  my  father's  no  small  amazement,  his  trencher 
danced  upon  the  table  a  pretty  while,  without  any  body's  stirring  the 
table.  When,  lo !  an  adventurous  wretch  took  it  up,  and  spoiled  the 
sport,  for  it  remained  still  ever  after.  How  glad  should  I  be  to  talk 
with  you  about  it.  Send  me  some  news,  for  we  are  secluded  from  the 
sight,  or  hearing,  of  any  versal  thing  except  Jeffrey. 

"  SUSANNAH  WESLEY." 

A  passage  in  a  letter  from  my  mother  to  me,  dated  March  27,  1717.. 
"  I  cannot  imagine  how  you  should  be  so  curious  about  our  unwel- 
come guest.     For  my  part,  I  am  quite  tired  with  hearing  or  speaking 
of  it :  but  if  you  come  among  us,  you  will  find  enough  to  satisfy  all 
your  scruples,  and  perhaps  may  hear  or  see  it  yourself. 

"  S.  WESLEY." 

A  passage  in  a  letter  from  my  sister  Emily  to  Mr.  JV.  Berry, 

dated  Jlpril  1. 

"  Tell  my  brother  the  sprite  was  with  us  last  night ;  and  heard  by 
many  of  our  family,  especially  by  our  maid  and  myself.  She  sat  up 
with  drink ;  and  it  came  just  at  one  o'clock,  and  opened  the  dining 
room  door.  After  some  time  it  shut  again.  She  saw  as  well  as  heard 
it  both  shut  and  open  ;  then  it  began  to  knock  as  usual.  But  I  dare 
write  no  longer,  lest  I  should  hear  it.  EMILIA  WESLEY." 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  127 

My  mother's  account  to  Jack. 

"  Aug.  27, 1726. 

"  About  ten  days  after  Nanny  Marshall  had  heard  unusual  groans  at 
the  dining  room  door,  Emily  came  and  told  me  that  the  servants  and 
children  had  been  several  times  frighted  with  strange  groans  and 
knockings  about  the  house.  I  answered,  that  the  rats  John  Maw  had 
frightened  from  his  house,  by  blowing  a  horn  there,  were  come  into 
ours,  and  ordered  that  one  should  be  sent  for.  Molly  was  much  dis- 
pleased at  it;. and  said,  If  it  was  any  thing  supernatural,  it  certainly 
would  be  very  angry,  and  more  troublesome.  However,  the  horn  was 
blown  in  the  garrets  ;  and  the  effect  was,  that  whereas  before  the 
noises  were  always  in  the  night,  from  this  time  they  were  heard  at  all 
hours,  day  and  night. 

"  Soon  after,  about  seven  in  the  morning,  Emily  came  and  desired 
me  to  go  into  the  nursery,  where  I  should  be  convinced  they  were  not 
startled  at  nothing.  On  my  coming  thither,  I  heard  a  knocking  at  the 
feet,  and  quickly  after  at  the  head  of  the  bed.  I  desired  if  it  was  a 
spirit  it  would  answer  me ;  and  knocking  several  times  with  my  foot 
on  the  ground,  with  several  pauses,  it  repeated  under  the  sole  of  my 
fret  exactly  the  same  number  of  strokes,  with  the  very  same  intervals. 
Kezzy,  then  six  or  seven  years  old,  said,  Let  it  answer  me  too,  if  it  can, 
and  stamping,  the  same  sounds  were  returned  that  she  made,  many 
times,  successively. 

"  Upon  my  looking  under  the  bed,  something  ran  out  pretty  much 
like  a  badger,  and  seemed  to  run  directly  under  Emily's  petticoats, 
who  sat  opposite  to  me  on  the  other  side.  I  went  out ;  and  one  or  two 
nights  after,  when  we  were  just  got  to  bed,  I  heard  nine  strokes, 
three  by  three,  on  the  other  side  of  the  bed,  as  if  one  had  struck  vio- 
lently on  a  chest  with  a  large  stick.  Mr.  Wesley  leapt  up,  called  Het- 
ty, who  alone  was  up  in  the  house,  and  searched  every  room  in  the 
house,  but  to  no  purpose.  It  continued  from  this  time  to  knock  and 
groan  frequently  at  all  hours,  day  and  night ;  only  I  earnestly  desired  it 
might  not  disturb  me  between  five  and  six  in  the  evening,  and  there 
never  was  any  noise  in  my  room  after  during  that  time. 

"  At  other  times,  I  have  often  heard  it  over  my  mantle  tree ;  and 
once,  coming  up  after  dinner,  a  cradle  seemed  to  be  strongly  rocked 
in  my  chamber.  When  I  went  in,  the  sound  seemed  to  be  in  the 
nursery.  When  I  was  in  the  nursery,  it  seemed  in  my  chamber 
again.  One  night  Mr.  W.  and  I  were  waked  by  some  one  running 
down  the  garret  stairs,  then  down  the  broad  stairs,  then  up  the  narrow 
ones,  then  up  the  garret  stairs,  then  down  again,  and  so  the  same 
round.  The  rooms  trembled  as  it  passed  along,  -nd  the  doors  shook 
exceedingly,  so  that  the  clatterring  of  the  latches  was  very  loud. 

"  Mr.  W.  proposing  to  rise,  I  rose  with  him,  and  went  down  the 
broad  stairs,  hand  in  hand,  to  light  a  candle.  Near  the  fobt  of  them 
a  large  pot  of  money  seemed  to  be  poured  at  my  waist,  and  to  run 
jingling  down  my  night  gown  to  my  feet.  Presently  after  we  heard 
the  noise  as  of  a  vast  stone  thrown  among  several  dozen  of  bottles, 
which  lay  under  the  stairs :  but  upon  our  looking  no  hurt  was  done. 
In  the  hall  the  mastiff  met  us,  crying  and  striving  to  getybetween  us. 


12&  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

We  returned  up  into  the  nursery,  where  the  noise  was  very  great. 
The  children  were  all  asleep,  but  panting,  trembling,  and  sweating 
extremely. 

"  Shortly  after,  on  Mr.  Wesley's  invitation,  Mr.  Hoole  stayed  a  night 
with  us.  As  we  were  all  sitting  round  the  fire  in  the  matted  chamber, 
he  asked  whether  that  gentle  knocking  was  it?  I  told  him  yes  ;  and 
it  continued  the  fjoundj  which  was  much  lower  than  usual.  This  was 
observable,  that  while  we  were  talking  loud  in  the  same  room,  the 
noise,  seemingly  lower  than  any  of  our  voices,  was  distinctly  heard 
above  them  all.  These  were  the  most  remarkable  passages  1  remem- 
ber, except  such  as  were  common  to  all  the  family." 

J\fy  sister  Emily's  account  to  Jack* 

"  About  a  fortnight  after  the  time  when,  as  I  was  told,  the  noises 
were  heard,  I  went  from  my  mother's  room  who  was  just  gone  to  bed, 
to  the  best  chamber,  to  fetch  my  sister  Sukey'.s  candle.  When  I  was 
there,  the  windows  and  doors  began  to  jar,  apfl  ring  exceedingly ;  and 
presently  after  I  heard  a  sound  in  the  kitcljen  as  if  a  vast  stone  coal 
had  been  thrown  down,  and  mashed  to  pieces.  I  went  down  thither 
with  my  candle,  and  found  nothing  more  than  usual :  but  as  I  was  going 
by  the  screen,  something  began  knocking  on  the  other  side  just  even 
with  my  head.  When  I  looked  on  the  inside,  the  knocking  was  on  the 
^itside  of  it :  but  as  soon  as  I  could  get  round,  it  was  at  the  inside 
again.  I  followed  to  and  fro  several  times,  till  at  last,  finding  it  to  no 
purpose,  and  turning  about  to  go  away,  before  I  was  out  of  the  room,  the 
latch  of  the  back  kitchen  door  was  lifted  up  many  times.  I  opened  the 
door  and  looked  out,  but  could  see  nobody.  I  triedVo  shut  the  door, 
but  it  was  thrust  against  me,  and  I  could  feel  the  latch,  which  I  held  in 
iny  hand,  moving  upward  at  the  same  time.  I  looked  out  again  :  but 
finding  it  was  labour  lost,  clapped  the  door  to,  and  locked  it.  Immedi- 
ately the  latch  was  moved  strongly  up  and  down  :  but  I  left  it,  and  went 
up. the  worst  stairs,  from  whence  I  heard,  as  if  a  great  stone  had  been 
thrown  among  the  bottles,  which  lay  under  the  best  stairs.  However 
I  went  to  bed. 

"  From  this  time,  I  heard  it  every  night  for  two  or  three  weeks.  It 
continued  a  month  in  its  full  majesty,  night  and  day.  Then  it  inter- 
mitted a  fortnight,  or  more,  and  when  it  began  again,  it  knocked  only 
on  nights,  and  grew  less  and  less  troublesome,  till  at  last  it  went  quite 
away.  Toward  the  latter  end  it  used  to  knock  on  the  outside  of  the 
house,  and  seemed  farther  and  farther  off,  till  it  ceased  to  be  heard 
at  all." 

J\ly  sister  Molly's  account  to  JocAr. 

"  Aug.  27. 

"  I  have  always  thought  it  was  in  November,  the  rest  of  our  family 
think  it  was  the  1st  of  December  1716,  when  Nanny  Marshall,  who 
had  a  bowl  of  butter  in  her  hand,  ran  to  me,  and  two  or  three  more  of 
my  sisters,  in  the  dining  room,  and  told  us  she  had  heard  several  groans 
in  the  hall  as  of  a  dying  man.  We  thought  it  was  Mr.  Turpine,  who 
had  the  stone,  and  used  sometimes  to  come  and  see  us.  About  a  fore- 


8AMUEL  TVESLET,   RECTOR  OF   KPWORTH.  129 

night  after,  when  my  sister  Sukey  and  I  were  going  to  bed,  she  told  me 
how  she  was  frightened  in  the  dining  room,  the  day  before,  by  a  noise, 
first  at  the  folding  door,  and  then  over  head.  I  was  reading  at  the 
table,  and  had  scarce  told  her  I  believed  nothing  of  it,  when  several 
knocks  were  given  just  under  my  feet.  We  both  made  haste  into  bed  ; 
and  just  as  we  laid  down,  the  warming  pan  by  the  bedside  jarred  and 
rung,  as  did  the  latch  of  the  door,  which  was  lifted  swiftly  up  and  down. 
Presently  a  great  chain  seemed  to  fall  on  the  outside  of  the  door,  (we 
were  in  ihe  best  chamber,)  the  door,  latch,  hinges,  the  warming  pan,  and 
windows  jarred,  and  the  house  shook  from  top  to  bottom. 

"  A  few  days  after,  between  five  and  six  in  the  evening,  I  was  by 
myself  in  the  dining  room.  The  door  seemed  to  open,  though  it  was 
still  shut ;  and  somebody  walked  in  a  night  gown  trailing  upon  the 
ground,  (nothing  appearing,)  and  seemed  to  go  leisurely  round  me.  I 
started  up,  and  ran  up  stairs  to  my  mother's  chamber,  and  told  the  story 
to  her  and  my  sister  Emily.  A  few  nights  after,  my  father  ordered  me 
to  light  him  to  his  study.  Just  as  he  had  unlocked  it,  the  latch  was 
lifted  up  for  him.  The  same  (after  we  blew  the  horn)  was  often  done 
to  me,  as  well  by  day  as  by  night.  Of  many  other  things  all  the  family 
as  well  as  me  were  witnesses. 

"  My  father  went  into  the  nursery  from  the  matted  chamber,  where 
we  were,  by  himself  in  the  dark.  It  knocked  very  loud  on  the  press 
bed  head.  He  adjured  it  to  tell  him  why  it  came,  but  it  seemed  to  take 
no  notice ;  at  which  he  was  very  angry,  spoke  sharply,  called  it  deaj 
and  dumb  devil,  and  repeated  his  adjuration.  My  sisters  were  terribly 
afraid  it  would  speak.  When  he  had  done,  it  knocked  his  knock  on 
the  bed's  head,  so  exceeding  violently,  as  if  it  would  break  it  to  shivers, 
and  from  that  time  we  heard  nothing  till  near  a  month  after." 

JVfj/  sister  Sukey's  account  to  Jack.  J 

"I  believed  nothing  of  it  till  about  a  fortnight  after  the  first  noises, 
then  one  night  I  sat  up  on  purpose  to  hear  it.  While  I  was  working  in 
the  best  chamber,  and  earnestly  desiring  to  hear  it,  a  knocking  began 
just  under  my  feet.  As  I  knew  the  room  below  was  locked,  I  was 
frightened,  and  leapt  into  bed  with  all  my  clothes  on.  I  afterward 
heard  as  it  were  a  great  chain  fall,  and  after  some  time  the  usual  noises 
at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night.  One  night  hearing  it  was  most  vio- 
lent in  the  nursery,  I  resolved  to  lie  there.  Late  at  night,  several 
strong  knocks  were  given  on  the  two  lowest  steps  of  the  garret  stairs, 
which  were  close  to  the  nursery  door.  The  latch  of  the  door  then 
jarred,  and  seemed  to  be  swiftly  moved  to  and  fro,  and  presently  began 
knocking  about  a  yard  within  the  room  on  the  floor.  It  then  came 
gradually  to  sister  Hetty's  bed,  who  trembled  strongly  in  her  sleep.  It 
beat  very  loud  three  strokes  at  a  time,  on  the  bed's  head.  My  father 
came,  and  adjured  it  to  speak :  but  it  knocked  on  for  some  time,  and 
then  removed  to  the  room  over  where  it  knocked  my  father's  knock  on 
the  ground,  as  if  it  would  beat  the  house  down.  I  had  no  mind  to  stay 
longer,  but  got  up,  and  went  to  sister  Em  and  my  mother,  who  were 
in  her  room.  From  thence  we  heard  the  noises  again  from  the  nursery. 

17 


ISO  or  MR.  TTEBLET'S  ANCESTORS. 

I  proposed  playing  a  game  at  cards :  but  we  had  scarce  begun,  when 
a  knocking  began  under  our  feet.  We  left  off  playing,  and  it  removed 
back  again  into  the  nursery,  where  it  continued  till  toward  morning." 

Sister  JVancy'*  account  to  Jack. 

"  Sept.  10. 

"  The  first  noise  my  sister  Nancy  heard  was  in  the  best  chamber, 
with  my  sister  Molly  and  my  sister  Sukey,  soon  after  my  father  had 
ordered  her  to  blow  a  horn  in  the  garrets,  where  it  was  knocking  vio- 
lently. She  was  terribly  afraid,  being  obliged  to  go  in  the  dark ;  and 
kneeling  down  on  the  stairs,  desired  that,  as  she  acted  not  to  please 
herself,  it  might  have  no  power  over  her.  As  soon  as  she  came  into 
the  room,  the  noise  ceased,  nor  did  it  begin  again  till  near  ten :  but 
then  and  for  a  good  while,  it  made  much  greater  and  more  frequent 
noises  than  it  had  done  before.  When  she  afterward  came  into  the 
chamber  in  the  day  time,  it  commonly  walked  after  her  from  room 
to  room.  It  followed  her  from  one  side  of  the  bed  to  the  other,  and 
back  again,  as  often  as  she  went  back ;  and  whatever  she  did  which 
made  any  sort  of  noise,  the  same  thing  seemed  just  to  be  done  behind  her. 

"  When  five  or  six  were  set  in  the  nursery  together,  a  cradle  would 
seem  to  be  strongly  rocked  in  the  room  over,  though  no  cradle  had  ever 
been  there.  One  night  she  was  sitting  on  the  press  bed,  playing  at  cards 
with  some  of  my  sisters,  when  my  sisters  Molly,  Etty,  Patty,  and 
Kezzy,  were  in  the  room,  and  Robert  Brown.  The  bed  on  which  my 
sister  Nancy  sat  was  lifted  up  with  her  on  it.  She  leapt  down  and  said, 
4  Surely  old  Jeffrey  would  not  run  away  with  her.'  However,  they 
persuaded  her  to  sit  down  again,  which  she  had  scarce  done,  when  it 
was  again  lifted  up  several  times  successively  a  considerable  height, 
upon  which  she  left  her  seat,  and  would  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  sit 
there  any  more. 

"Whenever  they  began  to  mention  Mr.  S.  it  presently  began  to 
knock  and  continued  to  do  so  till  they  changed  the  discourse.  All 
the  time  my  sister  Sukey  was  writing  her  last  letter  to  him,  it  made  a 
very  great  noise  all  round  the  room  ;  and  the  night  after  she  set  out  for 
London,  it  knocked  till  morning  with  scarce  any  intermission. 

"Mr.  Hoole  read  prayers  once:  but  it  knocked  as  usual  at  the  prayers 
for  the  king  and  prince.  The  knockings  at  those  prayers  were  only 
toward  the  beginning  of  the  disturbances,  for  a  week  or  thereabouts." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hook's  account. 

"  Sept.  16. 

"  As  soon  as  I  came  to  Epworth,  Mr.  Wesley  telling  me,  he  sent 
for  me  to  conjure,  I  knew  not  what  he  meant,  till  some  of  your  sisters 
told  me  what  had  happened,  and  that  I  was  sent  for  to  sit  up.  I 
expected  every  hour,  it  being  then  about  noon,  to  hear  something 
extraordinary,  but  to  no  purpose.  At  supper,  too,  and  at  prayers,  all 
was  silent,  contrary  to  custom  :  but  soon  after  one  of  the  maids,  who 
went  up  to  sheet  a  bed,  brought  the  alarm,  that  Jeffrey  was  come  above 
stairs.  We  all  went  up,  and  as  we  were  standing  round  the  fire  in  the 
east  chamber,  something  began  knocking  just  on  the  other  side  of  the 
wall,  on  the  chimney  piece.,  as  with  a  key.  Presently  the  knocking 


SAMUEL   WESLET,   RECTOR    OF   EPWORTH.  131 

was  under  our  feet  Mr.  Wesley  and  I  went  down,  he  with  a  great 
deal  of  hope,  and  I  with  fear.  As  soon  as  we  were  in  the  kitchen,  the 
sound  was  above  us,  in  the  room  we  had  left.  We  returned  up  the 
narrow  stairs,  and  heard  at  the  broad  stairs'  head  some  one  slaring 
with  their  feet  (all  the  family  being  now  in  bed  beside  us)  and  then 
trailing,  as  it  were,  and  rustling  with  a  silk  night  gown.  Quickly  it 
was  in  the  nursery,  at  the  bed's  head,  knocking  as  it  had  done  at  first, 
three  by  three.  Mr.  Wesley  spoke  to  it,  and  said  he  believed  it  was 
the  devil ;  and  soon  after  it  knocked  at  the  window,  and  changed  its 
sound  into  one  like  the  planing  of  boards.  From  thence  it  went  on  the 
outward  south  side  of  the  house,  sounding  fainter  and  fainter,  till  it  was 
heard  no  more. 

**  I  was  at  no  other  time  than  this  during  the  noises  at  Epworth,  and 
do  not  now  remember  any  more  circumstances  than  these." 

"Epworth,  Sept.  1. 

"  My  sister  Kezzy  says  she  remembers  nothing  else,  but  that  it 
knocked  my  father's  knock,  ready  to  beat  the  house  down  in  the  nur- 
sery one  night." 

Robin  Brown's  account  to  Jack. 

"  The  first  time  Robin  Brown,  my  father's  man,  heard  it,  was  when 
he  was  fetching  down  some  corn  from  the  garrets.  Somewhat  knocked 
on  a  door  just  by  him,  which  made  him  run  away  down  stairs.  From 
that  time  it  used  frequently  to  visit  him  in  bed,  walking  up  the  garret 
stairs,  and  in  the  garrets,  like  a  man  in  jack  boots,  with  a  night  gown 
trailing  after  him,  then  lifting  up  his  latch  and  making  it  jar,  and  making 
presently  a  noise  in  his  room  like  the  gobbling  of  a  turkey  cock,  then 
stumbling  over  his  shoes  or  boots  by  the  bedside.  He  was  resolved 
once  to  be  too  hard  for  it,  and  so  took  a  large  mastiff"  we  had  just  got 
to  bed  with  him,  and  left  his  shoes  and  boots  below  stairs :  but  he 
might  as  well  have  spared  his  labour,  for  it  was  exactly  the  same  thing, 
whether  any  were  there  or  no.  The  same  sound  was  heard  as  if  there 
had  been  forty  pairs.  The  dog  indeed  was  a  great  comfort  to  him ; 
for  as  soon  as  the  latch  began  to  jar,  he  crept  into  bed,  made  such  a 
howling  and  barking  together,  in  spite  of  all  the  man  could  do,  that  he 
alarmed  most  of  the  family. 

"  Soon  after,  being  grinding  com  in  the  garrets,  and  happening  to 
stop  a  little,  the  handle  of  the  mill  was  turned  round  with  great  swift- 
ness. He  said  nothing  vexed  him,  but  that  the  mill  was  empty.  If 
corn  had  been  in  it,  old  Jeffrey  might  have  ground  his  heart  out  for 
him  ;  he  would  never  have  disturbed  him. 

"  One  night,  being  ill,  he  was  leaning  his  head  upon  the  back  kitchen 
chimney  (the  jam  he  called  it)  with  the  tongs  in  his  hands,  when  from 
behind  the  oven-stop,  which  lay  by  the  fire,  somewhat  came  out  like  a 
white  rabbit.  It  turned  round  before  him  several  times,  and  then  ran 
to  the  same  place  again.  He  was  frighted,  started  up,  and  ran  with 
the  tongs  into  the  parlour  (dining  room.") 

"J9.  R.  Epworth,  Aug.  31. 

"  Betty  Massy  one  day  came  to  me  in  the  parlour,  and  asked  me  if 
I  had  heard  old  Jeffrey,  for  she  said  she  thought  there  was  no  «ucl» 


132  or  MR.  WESLEY'B  ANCESTORS. 

thing.  When  we  had  talked  a  little  about  it,  I  knocked  three  times 
with  a  reel  I  had  in  my  hand  against  the  dining  room  ceiling,  and  the 
same  were  presently  repeated.  She  desired  me  to  knock  so  again, 
which  I  did  :  but  they  were  answered  with  three  more  so  violently  as 
shook  the  house,  though  no  one  was  in  the  chamber  over  us.  She 
prayed  me  to  knock  no  more  for  fear  it  should  come  in  to  us." 

"Epivorth,  Aug.  31,  1726. 

"  John  and  Kitty  Maw,  who  lived  over  against  us,  listened  several 
nights  in  the  time  of  the  disturbance,  but  could  never  hear  any  thing." 

Memorandum  of  Jack's. 

**  The  first  time  my  mother  ever  heard  any  unusual  noise  at  Epworth 
was  long  before  the  disturbance  of  old  Jeffrey.  My  brother,  lately 
come  from  London,  had  one  evening  a  sharp  quarrel  with  my  sister 
Sukey,  at  which  time,  my  mother  happening  to  be  above  in  her  own 
•chamber,  the  door  and  windows  rung  and  jarred  very  loud,  and  presently 
several  distinct  strokes,  three  by  three,  were  struck. — From  that  night 
it  never  failed  to  give  notice  in  much  the  same  manner  against  any 
signal  misfortune,  or  illness  of  any  belonging  to  the  family." 

Of  the  general  circumstances  which  follow,  most,  if  not  all  the  family 
icere  frequent  witnesses. 

1.  Presently  after  any  noise  was  heard,  the  wind  commonly  rose, 
and  whistled  very  loud  round  the  house,  and  increased  with  it. 

2.  The  signal  was  given,  which  my  father  likens  to  the  turning 
round  of  a  windmill  when  the  wind  changes ;  Mr.  Hoole  (rector  of 
Haxey)  to  the  planing  of  deal  boards ;  my  sister  to  the  swift  winding 
up  of  a  jack.     It  commonly  began  at  the  corner  of  the  top  of  the 
nursery. 

3.  Before  it  came  into  any  room,  the  latches  were  frequently  lifted 
up,  the  windows  clattered,  and  whatever  iron  or  brass  was  about  the 
chamber  rung  and  jarred  exceedingly. 

4.  When  it  was  in  any  room,  let  them  make  what  noise  they  would, 
as  they  sometimes  did  on  purpose,  its  dead  hollow  note  would  be 
clearly  heard  above  them  all. 

5.  It  constantly  knocked  while  the  prayers  for  the  king  and  prince 
were  repeating;  and  was  plainly  heard  by  all  in  the  room  but  my 
father,  and  sometimes  by  him,  as  were  also  the  thundering  knocks  at 
the  amen. 

6.  The  sound  very  often  seemed  in  the  air  in  the  middle  of  a  room, 
nor  could  they  ever  make  any  such  themselves  by  any  contrivance. 

7.  Though  it  seemed  to  rattle  down  the  pewter,  to  clap  the  doors, 
draw  the  curtains,  kick  the  man's  shoes  up  and  down,  &c,  yet  it  never 
moved  any  thing  except  the  latches,  otherwise  than  making  it  tremble  ; 
unless  once,  when  it  threw  open  the  nursery  door. 

8.  The  mastiff,  though  he  barked  violently  at  it  the  first  day  he 
came,  yet  whenever  it  came  after  that,  nay  sometimes  before  the  family 
perceived  it,  he  ran  whining,  or  quite  silent,  to  shelter  himself  behind 
some  of  the  company. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  133 

9.  It  never  came  by  day,  till  ray  mother  ordered  the  horn  to  be  blown. 

10.  After  that  time  scarce  any  one  could  go  from  one  room  into 
another,  but  the  latch  of  the  room  they  went  to  was  lifted  up  before 
they  touched  it. 

11.  It  never  came  once  into  my  father's  study,  till  he  talked  to  it 
sharply,  called  it  deaf  and  dumb  devil,  and  bid  it  cease  to  disturb  the 
innocent  children,  and  come  to  him  in  his  study,  if  it  had  any  thing  to 
say  to  him. 

12.  From  the  time  of  my  mother's  desiring  it  not  to  disturb  her  from 
five  to  six,  it  was  never  heard  in  her  chamber  from  five  till  she  came 
down  stairs,  nor  at  any  other  time  when  she  was  employed  in  devotion. 

13.  Whether  our  clock  went  right  or  wrong,  it  always  came,  as  near 
as  could  be  guessed,  when  by  the  night  it  wanted  a  quarter  to  ten. 


The  accounts  in  general  agree  as  to  the  time  of  the  commencement 
and  cessation  of  these  disturbances.  They  were  first  noticed  December 
1  or  2,  1716,  and  ceased  at  the  end  of  January,  1717.  But  there  is  a 
fact  of  which  all  Mr.  Wesley's  biographers  are  ignorant,  viz.  that 
Jeffrey,  as  the  spirit  was  called,  continued  to  molest  some  branches  of 
the  family  for  many  years  after.  Wre  have  seen  that  Miss  Emily 
Wesley  was  the  first  who  gave  it  the  name  Jeffrey,  from  an  old  man 
of  that  name  who  had  died  there  ;  and  that  she  was  more  disturbed  by 
it  than  any  other  of  the  family.  I  have  an  original  letter  of  hers  to  her 
brother  John,  dated  February  16, 1750,  thirty-four  years  after  the  time, 
as  is  generally  supposed,  that  Jeffrey  had  discontinued  his  operations. 
Emily  was  now  Mrs.  Harper,  having  married  a  person  of  that  name, 
an  apothecary,  who  at  first  lived  in  Epworth,  and  afterward  in  London, 
or  near  it ;  and  the  letter  is  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Wesley, 
Foundry. 

As  some  account  of  this  lady  shall  be  given  in  its  proper  place,  I 
shall  insert  here  only  that  part  of  her  letter  which  refers  to  the  above 
subject. 

"Feb.  16,  1750. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER, Lwant  most  sadly  to  see  you,  and  talk 

some  hours  with  you,  as  in  lime  past!  Some  things  are  too  hard  for 
me  ;  these  I  want  you  to  solve.  One  doctrine  of  yours,  and  of  many 
more,  viz.  No  happiness  can  be  found  in  any  or  all  things  in  this 
world — That  as  I  have  sixteen  years  of  my  own  experience  which  lie 
flatly  against  it,  I  want  to  talk  with  you  about  it.  Another  thing  is, 
that  wonderful  thing,  called  by  us,  Jeffrey  !  You  won't  laugh  at  me  for 
being  superstitious,  if  I  tell  you  how  certainly  that  something  calls  on 
me  against  any  extraordinary  neio  affliction :  but  so  little  is  known  of 
the  invisible  world  that  I  at  least  am  not  able  to  judge  whether  it  be  a 
friendly  or  an  evil  spirit.  I  shall  be  glad  to  know  from  you  where  you 
live, — where  you  may  be  found.  If  at  the  Foundry,  assuredly  on  foot 
or  by  coach  I  shall  visit  my  dear  brother,  and  enjoy  the  very  great 
blessing  of  some  hours'  converse. 

"  I  am  your  really  obliged  friend  and  affectionate  sister, 

'•EMILIA  HARPER." 


134  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

I  find  by  a  note  on  the  back  that  Mr.  Wesley  answered  this  letter 
on  the  18th,  two  days  after :  but  what  he  said  on  the  subject  is  not 
recorded.  This  is  the  latest  information  I  have  concerning  Jeffrey 
and  his  operations.  It  seems  he  came  to  Emily  to  give  intimations 
of  approaching  afflictions  or  evils,  just  as  Socrates  informs  us  his 
demon  was  accustomed  to  apprize  him  of  any  evils  that  were  about 
to  happen. 

But  who  was  this  demon?  and  what  was  the  cause  of  his  troubling 
'this  family  ? 

We  find  that  for  a  considerable  time  all  the  family  believed  it  to  be  a 
trick  :  but  at  last  they  were  all  satisfied  it  was  something  supernatural. 
Some  supposed  it  was  a  demon,  others  that  the  whole  was  the  effect 
of  witchcraft.  Mr.  John  Wesley  believed  that  it  was  a  messenger  of 
Satan  sent  to  buffet  his  father  for  his  rash  promise  of  leaving  his  family, 
and  very  improper  conduct  to  his  wife  in  consequence  of  her  scruple 
to  pray  for  the  prince  of  Orange  as  king  of  England ;  to  which  title 
she  fully  believed  he  had  no  legal  nor  constitutional  right.  On  which 
we  find  that  he  left  Jjer  for  a  year,  to  the  neglect  both  of  his  family  and 
his  Church.  That  God  should  have  resented  this  rash  conduct  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at :  but  whether  Jeffrey  was  the  instrument  of  chastise- 
ment will  be  a  question  with  many.  With  others,  the  house  was 
considered  as  haunted.  For  this  I  have  heard  a  reason  assigned, 
which  I  shall  introduce,  because  it  has  been  stated  to  me  by  respectable 
authority  as  &fact. 

"  The  family  having  retired  one  evening  rather  earlier  than  usual,  one 
of  the  maids,  who  was  finishing  her  work  in  the  back  kitchen,  heard  a 
noise,  and  presently  saw  a  man  working  himself  through  a  trough  which 
communicated  between  the  sink  stone  within,  and  the  cistern  on  the 
outside  of  the  house.  Astonished  and  terrified  beyond  measure,  she 
in  a  sort  of  desperation,  seized  the  cleaver,  which  lay  on  the  sink  stone, 
and  gave  him  a  violent,  and  probably  a  mortal  blow  on  the  head  ;  she 
then  uttered  a  dismal  shriek,  and  fell  senseless  on  the  floor.  Mr.  Wes- 
ley being  alarmed  by  the  noise,  supposing  that  the  house  was  beset  by 
robbers,  rose  up,  caught  up  the  fire  irons  of  his  study,  and  began  to 
throw  them  with  violence  on  the  stairs,  calling  out  Tom !  Jack ! 
Harry,  &c,  as  loud  as  he  could  bawl ;  designing  thus  to  intimidate  the 
robbers.  Who  the  man  was  that  received  the  blow  (or  who  were  his 
accomplices)  was  never  discovered.  His  companions  had  carried  him 
ofT;  footsteps  and  marks  of  blood  were  traced  to  some  distance,  but 
not  far  enough  to  find  who  the  villains  were,  nor  from  whence  they 
came."  • 

I  give  this  story  just  as  I  received  it,  which,  though  respectably  re- 
lated, I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  to  any  authentic  source. 

Dr.  Priestley  thinks  the  whole  trick  and  imposture.  It  must  be  so 
on  his  system  of  Materialism :  but  this  does  not  solve  the  difficulty,  it 
only  cuts  the  knot. 

Mrs.  Wesley's  opinion  was  different  from  all  the  rest,  and  was  pro- 
bably the  most  correct :  she  supposed  that  "  these  noises  and  disturb- 
ances portended  the  death  of  her  brother,  then  abroad  in  the  East  India 
Company's  service."  This  gentleman,  who  had  acquired  a  large  pro- 


SAMCEL  WESLEY,   RECTOR   OF   EPWORTH.  135 

perty,  suddenly  disappeared  and  was  never  heard  of  more !  See  some 
account  of  him  immediately  after  that  of  his  father  Dr.  Annesley. 

The  story  of  the  disturbances  at  the  parsonage  house  in  Epworth  is 
not  unique  :  I  myself,  and  others  of  my  particular  acquaintances,  were 
eye  and  ear-witnesses  of  transactions  of  a  similar  kind;  which  could  never 
be  traced  to  any  source  of  trick  or  imposture  ;  and  appeared  to  be  the 
forerunners  of  two  very  tragical  events  in  the  disturbed  family ;  after 
which  no  noise  or  disturbance  ever  took  place.  In  the  history  of  my 
own  life  I  have  related  this  matter  in  sufficient  detail. 

Dr.  Priestley,  who  first  published  the  preceding  papers,  says  of  the 
whole  story,  that  "  it  is  perhaps  the  best  authenticated  and  the  best  told 
story  of  the  kind  that  is  any  where  extant ;  on  which  account,  and  to 
exercise  the  ingenuity  of  some  speculative  persons,  he  thought  it  not 
undeserving  of  being  published." — Preface,  p.  xi.  After  this  concession, 
he  then  enters  into  a  train  of  arguing,  to  show  that  there  could  be 
nothing  supernatural  in  it ;  for  Dr.  P.,  as  a  Materialist,  could  give  no 
credit  to  any  account  of  angels,  spirits,  &c,  the  existence  of  which  he 
did  not  credit ;  and  because  he  could  see  no  good  end  to  be  answered 
by  them,  therefore  he  thinks  he  may  safely  conclude  no  miracle  was 
wrought.  Such  argumentation  can  justify  no  man  in  disbelieving  a 
story  of  this  kind,  told  so  circumstantially,  and  witnessed  by  such  a 
number  of  persons  whose  veracity  was  beyond  doubt ;  and  whose 
capability  to  judge  between  fact  and  fiction,  trick  and  genuine  operation, 
was  beyond  that  of  most  persons,  who  in  any  country  or  age  came  for- 
ward to  give  testimony  on  a  subject  of  this  nature.  He  at  last  gets 
rid  of  the  whole  matter  thus  : — "  What  appears  most  probable,  at  this 
distance  of  time,  in  the  present  case  is,  that  it  was  a  trick  of  the  serv- 
ants, assisted  by  some  of  their  neighbours  ;  and  that  nothing  was  meant 
by  it,  beside  puzzling  the  family  and  amusing  themselves ;  and  that 
such  a  secret  should  be  kept,  so  that  the  matter  was  never  discovered, 
is  not  at"  all  to  be  wondered  at."  We  can  scarcely  suppose  that  this 
mode  of  reasoning  satisfied  the  mind  of  Dr.  Priestley ;  else  he  must 
have  been  satisfied  much  more  easily  on  a  subject  which  struck  at  the 
vitals  of  his  own  system,  than  he  would  have  been  on  any  doctrine 
relative  to  philosophy  and  chemistry.  He  had  Mrs.  Wesley's  letter 
before  him,  which  stated  that  the  servants  could  not  be  employed  in  the 
work  for  reasons  which  she  there  adduces ;  and  especially,  because 
those  very  servants  were  often  in  the  room  with  themselves,  when  the 
disturbances  were  most  rife.  But  all  suppositions  of  this  kind  are 
completely  nullified  by  the  preceding  letter  of  Mrs.  /farper,  (formerly 
Einilia  tVesley,)  which  states  that  even  to  thirty-four  years  afterward, 
Jeffrey  continued  to  molest  her.  Did  her  father's  servants  and  the 
Epworth  neighbours  pursue  her  for  thirty-four  years  through  her  various 
settlements,  from  1716  to  1750;  and  were  even  at  that  time  playing 
their  pranks  against  her  in  London!  How  ridiculous  and  absurd !  and 
this  is  the  very  best  solution  of  these  facts  that  Dr.  Priestley  could 
arrive  at  in  deference  to  his  system  of  Materialism !  The  letter  of  Mrs. 
Harper  I  consider  of  vast  importance,  as  it  removes  the  last  subterfuge 
of  determinate  incredulity  and  false  philosophy  on  this  subject. 

A  philosopher  should  not  be  satisfied  with  reasons  advanced  by  Dr. 


136  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Priestley.  He  who  will  maintain  his  creed  in  opposition  to  his  senses, 
and  the  most  undisguised  testimony  of  the  most  respectable  witnesses, 
had  better  at  once,  for  his  own  credit's  sake,  throw  the  whole  story  in 
the  region  of  doubt,  where  all  such  relations,  no  matter  how  authen- 
ticated, 

*  "  UpwhirPd  aloft, 
Fly  o'er  the  backside  of  xhe  world  far  off, 
Into  a  limbus  large  and  broad!" 

And  instead  of  its  being  called  the  paradise  of  fools,  it  may  be  styled 
the  limbus  of  philosophic  Materialists ;  into  which  they  hurry  whatever 
they  cannot  comprehend,  choose  not  to  believe,  or  please  to  call  super- 
stitious and  absurd.  And  they  treat  such  matters  so  because  they 
quadrate  not  with  principles  unfounded  on  the  Divine  testimony,  feebly 
supported  by  true  philosophy,  and  contradictory  to  the  plain  unbiassed 
good  common  sense  of  nineteen  twentieths  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth. 

But  my  business  is  to  relate  facts,  of  which  the  reader  is  to  make 
what  use  he  chooses. 

It  is  now  time  to  return  more  particularly  to  Mr.  Wesley's  personal 
history. 

When  Mr.  Pope  solicited  the  interest  of  Dean  Swift  to  procure  sub- 
scribers for  Mr.  Wesley's  Dissertations  on  the  Book  of  Job,  he  called 
him  a  learned  man;  and  from  many  evidences  before  me,  I  am  led 
unhesitatingly  to  confirm  this  character. 

The  rector  of  Epworth  was  a  learned  man ;  though  he  thought  and 
spoke  meanly  of  his  own  literary  attainments.  Independently  of  that 
classical  learning,  which  was  common  to  the  clergy  of  those  times,  he 
cultivated  other  branches  with  which  the  great  majority  of  them  were 
unacquainted.  One  branch  in  particular,  Biblical  criticism,  which  was 
then  but  little  studied  either  in  England  or  any  other  part  of  Europe  ; 
and  which,  within  a  few  years  only,  is  become  a  certain  science,  formed 
on  just  principles,  and  subjected  to  consistent  and  unerring  rules.  The 
Holy  Scriptures  he  had  read  with  deep  attention  in  the  originals  and 
principal  versions.  These  he  had  carefully  compared  by  a  judicious 
collation  ;  and  from  this  labour  he  drew  conclusions  at  once  instructive 
to  others,  and  creditable  to  his  own  understanding. 

In  his  time  that  great  and  important  work,  the  London  Polyglott,  was 
published,  containing  the  original  texts  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  with  all  the  ancient  versions  that  were  then  known. 
The  Samaritan  on  the  Pentateuch ;  the  Syriac,  Arabic,  Chaldee, 
JEthiopic,  including  the  Psalms  and  the  New  Testament ;  the  Persian 
on  the  four  Gospels  ;  the  Septuagint,  and  the  Vulgate.  All  these,  the 
Vulgate  excepted,  which  is  in  Latin,  are  accompanied  with  a  Latin 
version,  correct  enough  for  general  use.  The  text  and  versions  occupy 
Jive  folio  volumes.  The  sixth  is  a  collection  of  various  readings,  on  the 
above  texts  and  versions.  To  these  Dr.  Edmund  Castel  added  a  Lexi- 
con in  two  vols.  folio,  of  the  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Syriac,  Arabic,  JEthiopic, 
Samaritan,  and  Persian;  generally  called  CasteVs  Heptaglott  Lexicon. 

Of  this  work  Mr.  Wesley  had  a  copy,  which  was  unhappily  destroyed 
in  the  burning  of  his  house  in  1709.  How  diligently  he  consulted  this 


SAMl  I.I.  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  137 

work,  and  how  much  he  profited  by  it,  his  collation  of  all  the  above 
original  texts  and  versions  throughout  the  book  of  Job  testifies ;  of 
which  I  shall  speak  more  particularly  when  I  come  to  that  article.  He 
was  so  satisfied  of  the  great  utility  of  this  work  to  ministers,  that  we 
find  he  had  projected  an  edition  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  including  the 
original  texts,  and  principal  versions  on  a  more  contracted  plan,  and  in 
a  more  portable  form ;  of  which  we  have  some  account  in  a  letter 
written  to  his  son  John  at  Oxford,  when  he  had  thoughts  of  entering 
into  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

As  this  letter  contains  some  judicious  observations,  and  much  whole- 
some advice,  I  will  give  it  entire,  as  only  some  parts  of  it  have  been 
published ;  first  by  Mr.  Wesley  in  the  Jlrminian  Magazine,  and 
secondly  by  Dr.  Whilehead,  in  his  Life  of  Mr.  Wesley.  We  shall  see 
by  it,  as  by  several  other  evidences,  that  Mr.  S.  Wesley  was  a  strict 
father,  not  to  say  rigid,  inclining  to  severity.  But  if  the  rein  he  held 
was  tight,  his  hand  was  steady,  and  the  whip  not  in  use. 

"  Wroote,  Jan.  26,  1724-5. 

"  DEAR  SON, — I  am  so  well  pleased  with  your  present  behaviour,  or 
at  least  with  your  letters,  that  I  hope  I  shall  have  no  occasion  to  remem- 
ber any  more  some  things  that  are  passed.  And  since  you  have  now 
for  some  time  bit  upon  the  bridle,  I'll  take  care  hereafter  to  put  a  little 
honey  upon  it  as  oft  as  I  am  able.  But  then  it  shall  be  of  my  own  mero 
motn,  as  the  last  5to  was  ;  for  I  will  bear  no  rivals  in  my  kindness. 

"I  did  not  forget  you  with  Dr.  Morley,*  but  have  moved  that  way 
as  much  as  possible ;  though  I  must  confess,  hitherto,  with  no  great 
prospect  or  hopes  of  success. 

"  As  for  what  you  mention  of  entering  into  holy  orders,  it  is  indeed 
a  great  work  :  and  I  am  pleased  to  find  you  think  it  so,  as  well  as  that 
you  do  not  admire  a  callow  clergyman  any  more  than  I  do. 

"As  for  your  motives  you  take  notice  of,  my  thoughts  are,  1.  It  is 
no  harm  to  desire  getting  into  that  office,  even  as  Eli's  sons,  '  to  eat  a 
piece  of  bread  :' — for  '  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.'  Though,  2. 
A  desire  and  intention  to  lead  a  stricter  life,  and  a  belief  one  should  do 
so,  is  a  better  reason  ;  though  this  should  by  all  means  be  begun 
before,  or  else  ten  to  one  it  will  deceive  us  afterward.  3.  If  a  man  be 
unwilling  and  undesirous  to  enter  into  orders,  it  is  easy  to  guess 
whether  he  can  say,  so  much  as  with  common  honesty, '  that  he  believes 
he  is  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  do  it.'  But,  4.  The  principal  spring 
and  motive,  to  which  all  the  former  should  be  only  secondary,  must 
certainly  be  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  service  of  his  Church,  in  the 
edification  and  salvation  of  our  neighbour  :  and  wo  to  him  who,  with 
any  meaner  leading  view,  attempts  so  sacred  a  work.  For  which,  5. 
He  should  take  all  the  care  he  possibly  can,  with  the  advice  of  wiser 
and  elder  men;  especially  imploring  with  all  humility,  sincerity,  and 
intention  of  mind,  and  with  fasting  and  prayer,  the  direction  and  assist- 
ance of  Almighty  God  and  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  qualify  and  prepare  him- 
self for  it. 

*  Dr.  Morley  was  rector  of  Lincoln  College;  and  as  Mr.  John  Wesley  purposed 
to  slar.d  for  a  fellowship,  he  requested  his  father  to  use  his  interest  with  the  Doctor 
in  reference  to  that  event.  The  next  year  he  stood,  and  succeeded. 

18 


138  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"  The  knowledge  of  the  languages  is  a  very  considerable  help  in 
this  matter,  which,  I  thank  God,  all  my  three  sons  have  to  a  very  laud- 
able degree,  though  God  knows  I  had  never  more  than  a  smatter- 
ing of  any  of  them.  But  then  this  must  be  prosecuted  to  the  thorough 
understanding  the  original  text  of  the  Scriptures,  by  constant  and  long 
conversing  with  them. 

"  You  ask  me  which  is  the  best  commentary  on  the  Bible  ?  I  an- 
swer, the  Bible  :  for  the  several  paraphrases  and  translations  of  it  in  the 
Polyglott,  compared  with  the  original  and  with  one  another,  are  in 
my  opinion,  to  an  honest,  devout,  industrious,  and  humble  mind,  infi- 
nitely preferable  to  any  commentary  I  ever  saw  wrote  upon  it,  though 
Grotiusis  the  best,  (for  the  most  part,)  especially  on  the  Old  Testament. 

"  And  now  the  providence  of  God  (I  hope  it  was)  has  engaged  me 
in  such  a  work,  wherein  you  may  be  very  assistant  to  me,  I  trust  pro- 
mote his  glory,  and  at  the  same  time  notably  forward  your  own  studies 
in  the  method  I  have  just  now  proposed.  For  I  have  some  time  since 
designed  an  edition  of  the  Holy  Bible  in  octavo  in  the  Hebrew,  Chaldee, 
Seventy,  and  Vulgar  Latin  ;  and  hope  made  some  progress  in  it.  The 
whole  scheme  whereof  I  have  not  time  at  present  to  give  you  ;  of  which 
scarce  any  soul  yet  knows  except  your  brother  Sam. 

"  What  I  desire  of  you  on  this  article  isT  1.  That  you  would  imme- 
diately fall  to  work  ;  read  diligently  the  Hebrew  text  in  the  Polyglott, 
and  collate  it  exactly  with  the  Vulgar  Latin,  which  is  in  the  second 
column,  writing  down  all  (even  the  least)  variations  or  differences  be- 
tween them.  To  these  I  would  have  you  add  the  Samaritan  text,  in  the 
last  column  but  one,  (do  not  mind  the  Latin  translation  in  the  very  last 
column)  which  is  the  very  same  with  the  Hebrew,  except  in  some  very 
few  places,  only  differing  in  the  Samaritan  character,  (I  think  the  true  old 
Hebrew,)  the  alphabet  whereof  you  may  learn  in  a  day's  time,  either 
from  the  Prolegomena  in  Walton's  Polyglott,  or  from  his  Grammar. 
In  a  twelvemonth's  time,  sticking  close  to  it  in  the  forenoons,  you  will 
get  twice  through  the  Pentateuch  ;  for  I  have  done  it  four  times  the  last 
year,  and  am  going  over  it  the  Jifth  ;  collating  the  Hebrew  and  two 
Crreek,  the  Alexandrian,  and  the  Vatican,  with  what  I  can  get  of  Sym- 
machus  and  Theodotion,  &c.  Nor  shall  you  lose  your  reward  for  it, 
either  in  this  or  the  other  world.  Nor  are  your  brothers  like  to  be  idle. 
But  I  would  have  nothing  said  of  it  to  any  body,  though  your  brother 
Sam  shall  write  to  you  shortly  about  it. 

"  In  the  afternoon  read  who.t  you  will ;  and  be  sure  to  walk  an  hour, 
if  fair,  in  the  fields.  Get  Thirlby's  Chrysostom  De  Sacerdotio,  master 
it, — digest  it.  I  took  some  pains  a  year  or  two  since  in  drawing  up 
some  advices  to  Mr.  Hoole's  brother,  then  to  be  my  curate  at  Ep- 
worth,  before  his  ordination,  which  may  not  be  unuseful  to  you  ;  there- 
fore 4  will  send  them  shortly  to  your  brother  Sam  for  you  :  but  you 
must  return  me  them  again,  I  having  no  copy  ;  and  pray  let  none  but 
yourself  see  them. 

"  By  all  this  you  see  I  am  not  for  your  going  over  hastily  into  orders. 
When  I  am  for  your  taking  them,  you  shall  know  it;  and  it  is  not  im- 
possible but  I  may  be  with  you,  if  God  so  long  spare  tfce  life  and 
health  of  your  affectionate  father,  SAM.  WESLEY." 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  139 

"  I  like  your  verses  on  the  Ixvth  Psalm,  and  would  not  have  you  to 
bury  your  talent.  All  are  well  and  send  duties. 

"  Work  and  wrile  while  you  can.  You  see  time  has  shaken  me  by 
the  hand,  and  death  is  but  a  little  behind  him.  My  eyes  and  heart  are 
now  almost  all  I  have  left ;  and  bless  God  for  them." 

What  the  full  nature  and  extent  of  the  scheme  referred  to  above  was 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  out.  It  seems  he  had  intended  a  copious 
list  of  various  readings ;  and  intended  particularly  to  show  how  the 
Vulgate  version  (professed  by  St.  Jerom  to  be  taken  from  the  Hebrew 
text)  differed  from  the  original  ;  and  how  the  Alexandrian  and  Vatican 
copies  of  the  Septuagint  differed  from  each  other :  and  also  to  point 
out  the  variations  between  them  and  the  ancient  Greek  versions  of 
Symmachus  and  Theodotion,  together  with  the  other  existing  fragments 
of  the  Hexapla  of  Origen.  He  appears  to  have  intended  also  to  show 
the  variation  between  the  Hebrew  and  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  He 
tells  us  he  had  in  the  space  of  one  year  gone  four  times  through  the 
Pentateuch.  By  this  I  suppose  he  meant,  reading — 1.  The  Hebrew 
text ;  2.  The  Chaldee  paraphrases  of  Ben  Uzziel  and  Onkelos ;  3. 
The  Septuagint ;  and,  4.  The  Vulgate.  And  to  read  each  of  those 
critically,  and  the  whole  in  twelve  months,  was  no  mean  labour. 

This  scheme  would  have  wanted  nothing  for  general  utility  had  it 
included  the  Syriac  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  particularly 
of  the  latter.  A  work  of  this  kind.,  even  now,  would  be  of  the  utmost 
consequence  to  Biblical  students.  What  became  of  the  preparations 
for  this  promising  work  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn.  He  and  his 
three  sons  were  amply  qualified  for  the  undertaking. 

Mr.  Wesley  thought  himself  at  that  time  near  the  grave  ;  his  right 
hand  was  palsied,  and  he  had  other  infirmities :  but  he  lived  rather 
more  than  ten  years  after  the  date  of  this  letter. 

To  his  son  Charles,  who  had  in  1729  taken  his  Bachelor's  degree  in 
Christ's  Church,  Oxford,  and  had  begun  to  take  pupils,  he  wrote  as 
follows  : — 

"  Epworth,  January  29, 1729-30. 

"  Dear  Charles, — I  had  your  last  with  your  brother's,  and  you  may 
easily  guess  whether  I  were  not  pleased  with  it,  both  on  your  ac- 
count and  on  my  own.  You  have  a  double  advantage  by  your  pupils, 
which  will  soon  bring  you  more  if  you  will  improve  it,  as  I  firmly  hope 
you  will,  in  taking  the  utmost  care  to  form  their  minds  to  piety,  as  well 
as  learning.  As  for  yourself,  between  logic,  grammar,  and  mathema- 
tics, be  idle  if  you  can  ;  and  I  give  my  blessing  to  the  bishop  for  having 
tied  you  a  little  faster,  by  obliging  you  to  rub  up  your  Arabic ;  and  a 
fixed  and  constant  method  will  make  all  both  easy  and  delightful  to 
you.  But  for  all  that  you  must  find  time  every  day  for  walking ;  which 
you  know  you  may  do  with  advantage  to  your  pupils  ;  and  a  little 
more  robust  exercise  now  and  then  will  do  you  no  harm. 

"You  are  now  launched  fairly,  Charles:  hold  up  your  head,  and 
swim  like  a  man  ;  and  when  you  cuff  tho  wave  beneath  you,  say  to  it, 
much  as  another  hero  did, — 

Carolum  vehis,  et  Caroli  fortunam. 
Thou  earnest  Charles,  and  Charles's  fortune, 


140  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

But  always  keep  your  eye  above  the  pole  star  ;  and  so  God  send  you 
a  good  voyage  through  the  troublesome  sea  of  life  !  which  is  the  hearty 
prayer  of  your  loving  father. 

"  SAM.  WESLEY." 

In  the  following  year  Mr.  Wesley  met  with  an  accident  that  was 
likely  to  have  proved  fatal  to  him.  Mr.  John  Wesley,  then  at  Oxford, 
having  had  some  account  of  it,  wrote  to  his  mother  for  the  particulars, 
of  which  she  gave  him  the  following  detail : — 

"  July  12,  1731. 

u  Dear  Jacky, The  particulars  of  your  father' s  fall  are  as 

follows  : — On  Friday  before  Whitsunday,  the  4th  of  June,  I,  your  sister 
Martha,  and  our  maid,  were  going  in  our  wagon  to  see  the  ground  we 
hire  of  JVfrs.  Knight  at  Low  Millwood.     He  sat  in  a  chair  at  one  end 
of  the  wagon,  I  in  another  at  the  other  end,  Matty  between  us,  and  the 
maid  behind  me.     Just  before  we  reached  the  close,  going  down  a 
small  hill,  the  horses  took  into  a  gallop  ; — out  flies  your  father  and  his 
chair  :  the  maid  seeing  the  horses  run,  hung  all  her  weight  on  my  chair, 
and  kept  me  from  keeping  him  company.     She  cried  out  to  William 
to  stop  the  horses,  and  that  her  master  was  killed.     The  fellow  leaped 
out  of  the  seat,  and  stayed  the  horses  ;  then  ran  to  Mr.  Wesley,  but  ere 
he  got  to  him,  two  neighbours,  who  were  providentially  met  together, 
raised  his  head,  upon  which  he  had  pitched,  and  held  him  backward,  by 
which  means  he  begun  to  respire,  for,  'tis  certain,  by  the  blackness  in 
his  face,  that  he  had  never  drawn  breath  from  the  time  of  his  fall  till 
they  helped  him  up.     By  this  time  I  was  got  to  him,  asked  him  ho\v  he 
did,  and  persuaded  him  to  drink  a  little  ale,  for  we  had  brought  a 
bottle  with  us  ;  he  looked  prodigiously  wild,  but  began  to  speak,  and 
told  me  he  ailed  nothing.     I  informed  him  of  his  fall.     He  said  he 
'  knew  nothing  of  any  fall,  he  was  as  well  as  ever  he  was  in  his  life.' 
We  bound  up  his  head,  which  was  very  much  bruised,  and  helped  him 
into  the  wagon  again,  and  set  him  at  the  bottom  of  it,  while  I  supported 
his  head  between  my  hands,  and  the  man  led  the  horses  softly  home. 
I  sent  presently  for  Mr.  Harper,  who  took  a  good  quantity  of  blood 
from  him  ;  and  then  he  begun  to  feel  pain  in  several  parts,  particularly 
in  his  side  and  shoulder.     He  had  a  very  ill  night :  but  on  Sunday 
morning  Mr.  Harper  came  again  to  him,  dressed  his  head,  and  gave  him 
something  which  much  abated  the  pain  in  his  side.     We  repeated  the 
dose  at  bed-time,  and  on  Whitsunday  he  preached  twice,  and  gave  the 
sacrament,  which  was  too  much  for  him  to  do,  but  nobody  could  dis- 
suade him  from  it.     On  Monday  he  was  ill,  slept  almost  all  day.     On 
Tuesday  the  gout  came  :  but  with  two  or  three  nights  taking  bateman 
it  went  off  again,  and  he  has  since  been  better  than  could  be  expected. 
We  thought  at  first  the  wagon  had  gone  over  him:  but  it  only  went 
over  his  gown  sleeve,  and  the  nails  took  a  little  skin  off  his  knuckles, 
but  did  him  no  farther  hurt." 

Thus  far  Mrs.  Wesley.  It  is  evident  from  the  manner  of  his  fall, 
and  the  state  he  was  in  when  taken  up,  that  had  there  not  been  timely 
help,  he  would  have  never  breathed  more.  Was  there  not  an  especial 
Providence  concerned  in  preserving  the  life  of  this  good  man  ? 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  141' 

The  generality  of  English  readers  will  wonder  at  horses  galloping 
away  with  a  wagon ;  and  so  should  I,  had  I  not  known  those  which 
are  used  in  the  Isle  of  Axholme,  and  particularly  about  Epworth.  It 
is  a  long,  light,  and  very  narrow  vehicle  with  four  narrow  wheels, 
drawn  by  two  horses  a  breast ;  and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to  drive  with 
these  wagons  at  a  very  high  Irot,  and  not  seldom  at  a  gallop,  when 
going  to  the  harvest  fields. 

This  letter,  the  original  of  which  is  before  me,  seems  to  have  been 
carefully  preserved  by  Mr.  John  Wesley,  as  a  record  ,of  God's  mercy 
in  the  preservation  of  his  father's  life. — He  had  endorsed  it  thus  : — 

" My  Father's  Fall" 

Of  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Wesley's  family  I  find  little.  But  the 
following  letter  relative  to  the  person  who  married  his  daughter  Mary 
is  worthy  of  insertion  : — 

"  Westminster,  Jan.  14,  1733. 
"  To  Lord  Chancellor  York,  for  John  Whitlamb, 
now  Curate  of  Epworth. 

"  MY  LORD, — The  small  rectory  of  Wroote,  in  the  diocess  and 
county  of  Lincoln,  adjoining  to  the  Isle  of  Jlxholme,  is  in  the  gift  of 
the  lord  chancellor,  and  more  than  seven  years  since  was  conferred  on 
Samuel  Wesley,  rector  of  Epworth.  It  lies  in  the  low  levels,  and  is 
often  overflowed ;  four  or  five  years  since  I  have  had  it ;  and  the  people 
have  lost  most,  or  all  the  fruits  of  the  earth  to  that  degree  that  it  has 
hardly  brought  me  in  fifty  pounds  per  annum,  omnibtis  annis ;  and 
some  years  not  enough  to  pay  my  curate  there  his  salary  of  30/.  a 
year.  This  living,  by  your  lordship's  permission  and  favour,  I  would 
gladly  resign  to  one  Mr.  John  Whitlamb,  born  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Wroote,  as  his  father  and  grandfather  lived  in  it,  when  I  took  him 
from  among  the  scholars  of  a  charity  school  founded  by  one  Mr. 
Tracer*,  an  attorney — brought  him  to  my  house,  and  educated  him 
there,  where  he  was  my  amanuensis  for  four  years,  in  transcribing  my 
Dissertations  on  the  Book  of  Job,  now  well  advanced  in  the  press  ; 
and  drawing  my  maps  and  figures  for  it,  as  well  as  we  could  by  the 
light  of  nature.  After  this,  I  sent  him  to  Oxford,  to  my  son  John 
Wesley,  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  under  whom  he  made  such  pro- 
ficiency, that  he  was  the  last  slimmer  admitted  by  the  bishop  of  Oxford 
into  deacon's  orders,  and  placed  my  curate  in  Ejnoorth,  while  I  came 
up  to  town,  to  expedite  the  printing  my  book. 

"  Since  I  was  here  I  gave  consent  to  his  marrying  one  of  my  seven 
daughters,  and  they  are  married  accordingly ;  and  though  I  can  spare 
little  more  with  her,  yet  I  would  gladly  give  them  a  little  glebe  land  at 
Wroote,  where  I  am  sure  they  will  not  want  springs  of  water.  But  they 
love  the  place,  though  I  can  get  nobody  else  to  reside  on  it.  If  I  do 
not  flatter  myself,  he  is  indeed  a  valuable  person ;  of  uncommon 
brightness,  learning,  piety,  and  indefatigable  industry:  always  loyal  to 
the  king,  zealous  for  the  Church,  and  friendly  to  the  dissentingr>rethren ; 
and  for  the  truth  of  this  character  I  will  be  answerable  to  God  and 


142  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

man.  If,  therefore,  your  lordship  will  grant  me  the  favour  to  let  me 
resign  the  living  unto  him,  and  please  to  confer  it  on  him,  I  shall 
always  remain,  your  lordship's  most  bounden,  most  grateful,  and  most 
obedient  servant, 

"  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  Sen." 

Mary,  the  wife  of  this  Mr.  John  Whitlamb,  died  of  her  first  child. 
The  lord  chancellor  transferred  the  living  as  requested ;  and  Mr. 
Whitlamb  was  promoted  to  it  in  February  of  the  following  year.  We 
shall  hear  again  of  young  Mr.  Whitlamb,  as  Mr.  Wesley's  assistant 
on  the  book  of  Job. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Mr.  Wesley  was  long  engaged  in  a  work 
that  had  for  its  object  the  elucidation  of  the  book  of  Job,  proposals  for 
the  printing  of  which  were  published  in  1729.  From  the  preceding 
letter  to  the  chancellor,  we  find  it  was  in  the  press  so  early  as  the  year 
1732  :  but  was  not  finished  before  1736.  The  title  is,—Dissertationes 
in  librum  Jobi :  Jiutore  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  Rectore  de  Epworth,  in 
DicBcesi  Lincolniensi,  fol.  Lon.  typis  Gulielmi  Boivyer,  1736. 

Dedicated  to  Queen  Caroline  in  the  very  short  but  elegant  manner 
following : — 

SERENISSIMJE 

CAROLINA, 

DEI  GRATIA 

Magnae  Britanniae,  Franciae,  et  Hiberniae,  Regins, 

LITERARUM  FAUTRICI, 

dui  Juvenis,  Reginae  MARINE, 
Deinde  provectior  .^Etate  ANN.«, 

OPERA  S0A  CONSECRAVIT  : 

Idem  Senex,  plusquam  SEPTUAGENARIUS, 

EXTREMOS  HOSCE  LABORES 
HUM1LLIME  OFFERT 

SAMUEL  WESLEY. 

By  this  we  find  that  Mr.  Wesley  had  the  singular  honour  of  dedi- 
cating different  works  to  three  British  queens  in  succession.  His 
History  of  the  Life  of  Christ  he  dedicated  to  Queen  Mary;  his 
History  of  the  Old  and  ACTP  Testament  to  Queen  Anne;  and  his 
Dissertations  on  the  Book  of  Job,  to  Queen  Caroline. 

When  Mr.  Wesley  had  purposed  to  dedicate  this  work  to  Queen 
Caroline,  he  wrote  to  both  his  sons,  Samuel  and  John,  relative  to  the 
proper  mode  of  proceeding  :  but,  on  inquiry,  they  found  many  obstacles 
in  the  way  to  the  royal  presence,  occasioned,  it  appears,  by  some 
offence  given  by  Mr.  Samuel  in  his  Satires  on  the  Ministry  and  their 
Friends.  How  these  obstacles  were  at  last  removed  we  are  not 
informed :  but  the  queen  received  the  work,  as  we  have  seen  above. 
The  following  letter,  written  to  Mr.  Samuel  while  this  subject  was 
pending,  is  both  curious  and  important. 

To  my  Son  Samuel. 

"  Epworth,  Dec.  17,  1730. 

"  DEAR  SON, — On  Wednesday  last,  the  15th  instant,  I  had  yours  of 
the  llth  and  12th,  which  has  made  me  pretty  quiet  in  reference  to  my 
dedication,  as  indeed  my  heart  was  never  violently  set  upon  it  before, 


SAMUEL   WE3LET,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  143 

or  I  hope  on  any  thing  else  in  this  world.  I  find  it  stuck  where  I 
always  boded  it  would,  as  in  the  words  of  your  brother  in  yours,  when 
you  waited  on  him  with  my  letter  and  addressed  him  on  the  occasion. 
4  The  short  answer  I  received  was  this,  it  was  utterly  impossible  to 
obtain  leave  on  my  account :  you  had  the  misfortune  to  be  my  father ; 
and  I  had  a  long  bill  against  M n.' 

"  I  guess  at  the  particulars,  that  you  have  let  your  wit  too  loose 
against  some  favourites ;  which  is  often  more  highly  resented,  and 
harder  to  be  pardoned,  than  if  you  had  done  it  against  greater  persons. 
It  seems  then  that  original  sin  goes  sometimes  upward  as  well  as 
downward ;  and  we  must  suffer  for  our  offspring.  Though,  notwith- 
standing this  disappointment,  owing  I  doubt  not  to  some  misconduct,  I 
shall  never  think  it  '  a  misfortune  to  have  been  your  father.'  I  am 
sensible  it  would  avail  little  for  me  to  plead  in  proof  of  my  loyalty,  the 
having  written  and  printed  the  first  thing  that  appeared  in  defence  of 
the  government  after  the  accession  of  King  William  and  Queen  J\Iary 
to  the  crown,  (which  was  an  answer  to  a  speech  without  doors,)  and  I 
wrote  a  great  many  little  pieces  more,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  with 
the  same  view ;  and  that  I  ever  had  the  most  tender  affection  and 
deepest  veneration  for  my  sovereign  and  the  royal  family ;  on  which 
account  it  is  no  secret  to  you,  though  it  is  to  most  others,  that  I  have 
undergone  the  most  sensible  pains  and  inconveniences  of  my  whole 
life,  and  that  for  a  great  many  years  together ;  and  yet  have  still,  I 
thank  God,  retained  my  integrity  firm  and  immovable,  till  I  have 
conquered  at  the  last.  I  must  confess,  I  had  the  (I  hope  at  the  least) 
pardonable  vanity  (when  I  had  dedicated  two  books  before  to  two  of 
our  English  queens,  Queen  Mary  and  Queen  Anne,)  to  desire  to 
inscribe  a  third,  which  has  cost  me  ten  times  as  much  labour  as  all 
the  rest,  to  her  gracious  majesty  Queen  Caroline  ;  who,  I  have  heard, 
is  an  encourager  of  learning.  And  this  work,  I  am  sure,  needs  a  royal 
encouragement,  whether  or  no  it  may  deserve  it.  Neither  would  I  yet 
despair  of  it,  had  I  any  friend  who  would  fairly  represent  that  and  me 
to  her  majesty.  Be  that  as  pleaseth  Him  in  whose  hands  are  the  hearts 
of  all  the  princes  upon  earth  ;  and  he  turneth  them  whithersoever  ho 
pleases. 

44  It'  we  have  not  subscriptions  enough  for  the  cuts,  as  proposed,  we 
must  be  content  to  lower  our  sails  again,  and  to  have  only  the  maps, 
the  picture  of  Job,  which  I  must  ha  ye  at  the  beginning,  and  some  few 
others.  The  family,  I  thank  God,  is  all  well,  as  is  your  affectionate 
father, 

"  SAM.  WESLEY,  Sen." 

It  is  very  likely  that  Mr.  Wesley  had  learnt  before  he  died,  that  his 
work  when  finished  would  be  received  by  the  queen  ;  and  that  he  had 
permission  to  dedicate  it  to  her  majesty ;  and  it  must  have  consoled 
him  ;  as  it  would  have  pained  him  most  sensibly  to  have  fallen  under 
the  displeasure  of  one  whom  he  most  sincerely  reverenced.  I  shall 
now  proceed  to  a  description  of  the  work  itself. 

The  dissertations  are  thirty-jive  in  number,  some  of  which  are  very 
curious. 


144  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

From  the  preface  we  learn  the  following  particulars  : — 

1.  That  he  had  for  a  long  time  carefully  read  over  this  book,  first  in 
Hebrew,  and  secondly  in  the  Septuagint ;  that  he  collated  these  toge- 
ther, and  formed  the  result  into  notes  and  observations  on  the  passages 
which  gave  them  birth  ;  that  having  procured  Walton's  Polyglott,  he 
compared  what  he  had  already  done  with  the  ancient  versions  in  that 
work,  and  greatly  increased  his  notes  and  observations  ;  and  that  the 
fire  in  his  house  in  1709  destroyed  all  his  property,  not  a  leaf  either 
of  his  Polyglott,  or  his  Collections  on  Job,  escaping  the  flames. 

2.  Having  procured  another  Polyglott,  he  read  over  the  Hebrew 
text  again  and  again,  diligently  compared  the  Alexandrian  and  Vatican 
editions  of  the  Septuagint  with  all  the  fragments  of  Origen's  Hexapla, 
collated  all  the  variations  in  the  Chaldee,  Arabic,  and  Syriac  texts,  with 
the  principal  critics,  as  exhibited  in  Pool's  Synopsis :  but  not  under- 
standing the  Arabic  and  Syriac,  he  was  obliged  to  trust  to  their  Latin 
versions  in  the  Polyglott.    He  compared  also  Tindal's  and  the  Bishop's 
Bible,  of  which  he  says,  qua  licet  non  prorsus  infaUibili,  perfectiorem  in 
ulld  lingua  me  visuram  non  spero  ;    "  which,  although  not  altogether 
infallible,  any  thing  more  perfect  in  any  language  I  never  expect  to  see." 

3.  Having  gone  through  all  this  previous  labour,  he  then  consulted 
all  the  commentators  within  his  reach,  principally  relying  on  what  he 
had  been  able  to  acquire  from  the  above  collation  of  the  original  text, 
and  ancient  versions  in  the  Polyglott. 

4.  As  he  did  not  design  to  write  a  commentary  on  the  book,  he  wrote 
down  the  titles  of  subjects  on  which  he  designed  to  write  dissertations 
for  the  general  elucidation  of  the  book. 

5.  He  then  relates  the  assistance  he  had  from  books — and  mentions 
with  peculiar  gratitude  and  respect  the   help  he  received  from   the 
library  of   Lord  Malton;    without  whose  kindness,  hospitality  and 
munificence,  the  work,  he  says,  would  have  come  into    the   world 
mutilated,  or  perished  as  an  abortion. 

6.  The  authors  he  consulted  were  principally,   Pliny,    Bunting's 
Travels  of  the   Patriarchs,  Sahnasius,  JMercator,  Jerom,    Eusebius, 
Strabo,  Diodorus  Sictdus,  Luitsius,  Sanson,  Purehas,  Hakluyt,  De  la 
Valle,  and  Peutinger's  Tables  for  the  geographical  part.     Bochart, 
worth  all  the  rest  put  together,  he  had,  he  says,  only  for  a  few  days. 
Calmet,  Pineda,  Spanheim,  Dr.  Hyde,  Bishop  Cumberland,  Greaves, 
Sandys,  &c,  gave  him  help  in  the  same  line. 

7.  For  the  chronology,  he  consulted  Usher,  Loyd,  Marshal,  Ptole- 
my, Cellarius,  Reyland,  and  Maundrell. 

8.  Mr.  Rumhy,  teacher  of  the  Wroote  Charity  School ;  Maurice 
Johnson,  Esq.,  founder  of  the  Gentlemen's  Society  at  Spalding ;  and 
his  three  sons,  Samuel,  John,  and  Charles,  were  those  from  whom  he 
had  his  principal  assistance.  Samuel  corrected  the  press  ;  and  he  and 
his  brothers  did  every  thing  in  the  work  that  dutiful  sons  should  do  for 
an  aged  and  most  respectable  parent. 

9.  By  close  application  to  this  work  for  many  years,  he  greatly  im- 
paired his  health,  and  brought  on  himself  both  gout  and  palsy.     He 
died  the  year  before  it  was  finished,  and  his  son  Samuel  completed  and 
edited  the  work. 


SAMUEL  WESLEV,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  145 

1 0.  In  this  work  there  are  a  good  many  engravings,  by  Vertue,  Scale, 
and  Cole  ;  and  there  are  several  plates  anonymous.  Of  the  engravings 
in  general,  Mr.  Badcock  says,  they  seem  to  be  the  first  rude  efforts  of 
an  untutored  boy;  nothing  can  be  conceived  more  execrable.  We 
must  except  from  this  censure  those  done  by  Vertue ;  the  head  par- 
ticularly, which  is  really  fine.  The  crocodile,  hippopotamus,  and  tear 
horse  by  Cole,  are  tolerable.  The  rest  are  very  indifferent :  and  the 
anonymous,  which  were  the  work  of  Mr.  John  Whitlamb,  who  was 
his  amanuensis  and  pupil  for  several  years,  whom  he  sent  to  the  uni- 
versity, and  who  afterward  married  his  daughter  Mary,  are  among  the 
worst  that  ever  saw  the  sun.  Mr.  Badcock  guessed  right  that  they 
were  the  first  rude  efforts  of  an  untutored  hoy. 

The  frontispiece  by  Vertue  is  well  imagined,  and  well  done  ;  except 
the  portcullis  in  the  ancient  gate,  under  which  Mr.  Wesley,  in  the  cha- 
racter of  Job  dispensing  justice,  is  sitting  in  an  ancient  chair,  with  a 
sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  two  pyramids  in  the  distance.  Over  the  top  of 
the  gate  is  written  JOB  PATRIARCHA ;  and  at  the  bottom  of  the 
leaf  are  these  words  upon  a  label, — 

AN.  ETAT.  CIRCITER  LXX. 
Q.UIS  MIHI  TRIB0AT  0T  SCRIBANTUR 
SERMONES  MEI,  UT  IN  LIBRO  EXCULPANTER. 

A  correspondent  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1785,  p.  758,  says 
that  this  inscription  "  marks  it  out  as  the  quaint  device  of  a  man  in 
years,  who  thought  himself  neglected."  I  cannot  think  there  was  any 
such  design,  or  that  Mr.  Wesley  thought  himself  neglected.  In  no 
part  of  his  private  correspondence  have  I  found  even  the  shadow  of 
such  a  complaint.  He  rather  spoke  of  what  he  had  as  something  in 
the  way  of  Providence,  beyond  any  thing  he  had  either  sought  or  ex- 
pected. The  words  are  taken,  with  a  slight  alteration,  from  Job  xix, 
23,  as  they  stand  in  the  Vulgate. 

Qui*  mihi  tributtt  ut  scribantur  sermones  mei  ? 
Quw  mihi  del  ut  exarantur  in  libra  ? — 

O  that  my  words  were  now  written  ! 
O  that  they  were  printed  in  a  book  ! 

Of  this  work  there  were  500  copies  printed ;  and  he  had  a  list  of 
343  subscribers. 

The  most  useful  part  of  this  volume,  and  what  must  have  cost  the 
author  incredible  pains  and  trouble,  is  the  last  part,  intituled,  Libri 
Jobi  Textus  Hebraicus,  cum  Paraphrasi  Chaldaica  et  Ver&ionibus 
plurimis  collalus — 

"  The  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Book  of  Job,  collated  with  the  Chaldee 
Paraphrase  and  numerous  Versions." 

The  following  are  the  versions  : — 

The  Septuagint,  in  the  Aldine,  Grabean,  and  Bosnian  editions,  and 
in  the  Compluten»ian  Polyglott,  with  the  fragments  of  Jlquila,  Symma- 
r.hus,  and  Theodotion. 

The  Chaldee  Paraphrase, 

The  Syriac  and  Arabic  version?. 

The  Latin  version  of  Castellio, 

19 


146  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS.. 

The   Latiii  version  of  Arias  JWontanus, 

of  St.  Ambrose, 

of  Junius  Tremellius, 

of  Piscator, 

— — • of  the  Zurich  divines, 

The  English  version  of  Tindal, — and 

The  present  authorized  version. 

Every  verse  of  the  whole  book  has  been  collated  as  above,  and  all 
the  variations  set  down  ;  and  this  part  of  the  work  occupies  no  less  than 
184  folio  pages.  It  is  one  of  the  completes!  things  of  the  kind  I  have 
ever  met  with  ;  and  must  be  invaluable  to  any  man  who  may  wish  to 
read  this  book  critically. 

The  work  having  been  dedicated  by  permission  to  the  queen,  Mr. 
John  Wesley  was  appointed  to  present  it  in  the  name  of  his  deceased 
father;  which  he  did  on  Sunday,  October  12,  1735.  Himself  told 
me,  that  "  when  he  was  introduced  into  the  royal  presence,  the  queen 
was  romping  with  her  maids  of  honour.  But  she  suspended  her  play, 
heard  and  received  him  graciously,  took  the  book  from  his  hand,  which 
he  presented  to  her  kneeling  on  one  knee,  looked  at  the  outside,  said,  It 
is  very  prettily  bound,  and  then  laid  it  down  in  a  window  without  open- 
ing a  leaf.  He  rose  up,  bowed,  walked  backward,  and  withdrew.  The 
queen  bowed  and  smiled,  and  spoke  several  kind  words,  and  imme- 
diately resumed  her  sport." 

In  a  letter  from  Mr.  Badcock,  published  by  Mr.  Nichols  in  his  Lite- 
rary Anecdotes,  vol.  v,  p.  219,  mention  is  made  of  Mr.  John  Wesley's 
presenting  the  book  to  Queen  Caroline.  He  says,  "  Mr.  John  Wes- 
ley, in  a  letter  to  his  brother  Samuel,  acknowledges  the  very  courteous 
reception  he  was  honoured  with  from  her  majesty,  who  gave  him  bows, 
and  smiles,- —but  nothing  for  his  poor  father." 

I  cannot  tell  how  to  understand  this.  Mr.  Samuel  WTesley  died 
April  25,  1735,  and  the  work  in  question  bears  date  1736.  It  was  in 
this  year  it  was  published ;  and  it  certainly  was  not  finished  when  he 
died  ;  for  in  the  account  of  his  father's  death,  which  Mr.  Charles  Wes- 
ley wrote  from  Epworth  to  his  brother  Samuel,,  dated  April  30,  1735, 
we  find  these  remarkable  words, — "  The  fear  of  death  he  had  entirely 
conquered ;  and  at  last  gave  up  his  latest  human  desires  of  finishing 
Job,  paying  his  debts,  and  seeing  you."  The  book  could  not  have 
been  presented  before  it  \vasfinished  ;  there  must  therefore  be  a  mis- 
take in  Mr.  Badcock's  statement,  which  represents  Mr.  Samuel  Wes- 
ley, sen.,  as  alive  when  his  son  John  presented  the  book  to  the  queen, 
"Her  majesty  gave  him  bows  and  smiles;  but  nothing  for  his  poor 
father." 

But  Mr.  John  Wesley's  letter  to  his  brother  puts  the  matter  beyond 
dispute.  It  is  dated, 

"  Gravesend,  on  board  the  Simmonds,.Oct.  15,  1735. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER, — I  presented  Job  to  the  queen  on  Sunday,  and  had 
many  good^  words  and  smiles.  Out  of  what  is  due  to  me  on  that 
account  I  beg  you  first  pay  yourself  what  I  owe  you  ;  and  if  I  live 
till  -spring,  I  can  then  direct  what  I  would  have  done  with  the  re- 
mainder." 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,   RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  147 

Here  is  the  whole  that  Mr.  J.  Wesley  says  on  the  subject.  And 
thus  we  see  the  book  was  not  presented  till  more  than  six  months  after 
Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  death.  Mr.  J.  Wesley  embarked  on  Tuesday 
14.  The  book  was  presented  on  Sunday  12. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  infirmities  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley 
were  greatly  increased  by  his  labours  on  the  above  work ;  from  which 
his  advanced  age  forbad  any  hopes  of  recovery.  He  acted  on  the 
maxim, — "  Rather  wear  out  than  rust  out ;"  and  he  sunk,  fairly  worn 
out  with  labours,  old  age,  and  infirmities,  April  25,  1735,  in  the 
seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

His  two  sons  John  and  Charles  were  present  at  his  death ;  and  the 
latter  gives  an  account  of  this  closing  scene  in  the  followin^fctter  to 
his  brother  Samuel. 

"  Epieorth,  April  30,1735. 

**  DEAR  BROTHER, — After  all  your  desire  of  seeing  my  father  alive, 
you  are  at  last  assured  you  must  see  his  face  no  more,  till  raised  in 
incorruption.  You  have  reason  to  envy  us,  who  could  attend  him  in 
the  last  stage  of  his  illness.  The  few  words  he  uttered  I  have  saved. 
Some  of  them  were,  '  Nothing  too  much  to  suffer  for  heaven.  The 
weaker  I  am  in  body,  the  stronger  and  more  sensible  support  I  feel 
from  God. — There  is  but  a  step  between  me  and  death.  To-morrow 
I  would  see  you  all  with  me  round  this  table,  that  we  may  once  more 
drink  of  the  cup  of  blessing,  before  we  drink  of  it  new  in  the  kingdom 
of  God.  With  desire  have  I  desired  to  eat  this  passover  with  you 
before  I  die.' 

"  The  morning  he  was  to  communicate  he  was  so  exceeding  weak, 
and  full  of  pain,  that  he  could  not  without  the  utmost  difficulty  receiva 
the  elements,  often  repeating,  'Thou  shakest  me!  thou  shakest  me!' 
But  immediately  after  receiving,  there  followed  the  most  visible  alter- 
ation. He  appeared  full  of  faith  and  peace,  which  extended  even  to 
his  body  ;  for  he  was  so  much  better,  that  we  almost  hoped  he  woul.d 
have  recovered.  The  fear  of  death  he  had  entirely  conquered  ;  and  at 
last  gave  up  his  latest  human  desires,  of  finishing  Job,  paying  his  debts, 
and  seeing  you.  He  often  laid  his  hands  upor  <ny  head,  and  said, '  Be 
steady.  The  Christian  faith  will  surely  revive  in  this  kingdom  ;  you 
shall  see  it,  though  I  shall  not.'  To  my  sister  Emily  he  said,  *  Do  not 
be  concerned  at  my  death ;  God  will  then  begin  to  manifest  himself  to 
my  family.'  When  we  were  met  about  mV  his  usual  expression  was, 
*  Now  let  me  hear  you  talk  about  heaven.'  my  asking  him,  whether 
he  did  not  find  himself  worse,  he  replied,  my  Charles,  I  feel  a  great 
deal.  God  chastens  me  with  strong  pain  :  but  I  praise  him  for  it ;  I 
thank  him  for  it ;  I  love  him  for  it.'  On  the  25th  his  voice  failed  him, 
and  nature  seemed  entirely  spent,  when  on  my  brother's  asking, '  whether 
he  was  not  near  heaven  V  he  answered  distinctly,  and  with  the  most  of 
hope  and  triumph  that  could  be  expressed  in  sounds,  *  Yes,  I  am.'  He 
spoke  on9e  more;  just  after  my  brother  had  used  the  commendatory 
prayer. — His  last  words  were,  « Now  you  have  done  all.'  This  was 
about  half  an  hour  after  six  :  from  which  time  till  sunset  he  made  signs 
of  offering  up  himself,  till  my  brother,  having  again  used  the  prayer,  th« 
very  moment  it  was  finished,  he  expired. 


14S  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"  His  passage  was  so  smooth  and  insensible,  that  notwithstanding  the 
stopping  of  his  pulse,  and  ceasing  of  all  sign  of  life  and  motion,  we  con- 
tinued over  him  a  good  while,  in  doubt  whether  the  soul  was  departed 
or  no.  My  mother  who,  for  several  days  before  he  died,  hardly  ever 
went  into  his  chamber,  but  she  was  carried  out  again  in  a  fit,  was  far 
less  shocked  at  the  news  than  we  expected  ;  and  told  us,  that '  now  she 
was  heard  in  his  having  so  easy  a  death,  and  her  being  strengthened  so 
to  bear  it.' 

"  Though  you  have  lost  your  chief  reason  for  coming,  yet  there  are 
others  which  make  your  presence  more  necessary  than  ever.  My 
mother  would  be  exceedingly  glad  to  see  you  as  soon  as  can  be. 

"  We -have  computed  the  debts,  and  find  they  amount  to  above  100/. 
exclusive  of  cousin  Richardson's.  Mrs.  Knight,  her  landlady,  seized 
all  her  quick  stock,  valued  at  above  402.  for  15/.  my  father  owed  her, 
on  Monday  last,  the  day  he  was  buried.  And  my  brother  this  afternoon 
gives  a  note  for  the  money,  in  order  to  get  the  stock  at  liberty  to  sell, 
for  security  of  which  he  has  the  stock  made  over  to  him,  and  will  be 
paid  as  it  can  be  sold.  My  father  was  buried  very  frugally,  yet  decently, 
in  the  church  yard,  according  to  his  own  desire. 

"  It  will  be  highly  necessary  to  bring  all  accounts  of  what  he  owed 
you  that  you  may  mark  all  the  goods  in  the  house  as  principal  creditor, 
and  thereby  secure  to  my  mother  time  and  liberty  to  sell  them  to  the 
best  advantage.  Chartas  omnes,  et  Epistolas  prcecipuas  opposita  sera 
in  adventum  tuum  reservo.  [All  papers  and  letters  of  importance  I 
have  sealed  up,  and  keep  till  you  come.] 

"  Kezzy  and  Mr.  H.  have  parted  for  ever.  Your  advice  in  hers  and 
many  other  cases  will  be  absolutely  necessary.  If  you  take  London 
in  your  way,  my  mother  desires  you  would  remember  that  she  is  a 
clergyman's  widow.  Let  the  society  give  her  what  they  please,  she 
must  be  still  in  some  degree  burthensome  to  you  as  she  calls  it.  How 
do  I  envy  you  that  glorious  burthen,  and  wish  I  could  share  it  with  you. 
You  must  put  me  in  some  way  of  getting  a  little  money,  that  I  may  do 
something  in  this  shipwreck  of  the  family,  though  it  be  no  more  than 
furnishing  a  plank. 

"  I  should  be  ashamed  of  having  so  much  business  in  my  lettcv,  were 
it  not  necessary.     I  would  choose  to  write  and  think  of  nothing  but  my 
father.     Ere  we  meet,  I  hope  you  will  have  finished  his  elegy. 
"  I  am  your  affectionate  brother, 

"CHARLES  WESLEY. 

"  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wesley,  at  Tiverton,  Devon." 

I  believe  Mr.  Samuel  had  not  only  a  high  esteem,  but  also  an  ardent 
affection,  for  his  father ;  and  therefore  to  be  deprived  of  the  opportunity 
of  witnessing  his  closing  scene  must  have  been  to  him  the  cause  of  deep 
affliction  and  regret.  When  Mr.  Charles  states  in  the  above  letter  that 
his  father  gave  up  his  last  human  hopes  of  seeing  his  son  Samuel, 
finishing  his  Dissertations  on  Job,  and  paying  his  debts,  the  sympa- 
thetic reader  will  anxiously  inquire —  What  were  these  debts?  They  were 
small ;  and  more  property  was  left  than  was  necessary  to  cover  them 
all.  For  on  examination,  Mr.  Charles  tells  us  they  were  found  to 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPWORTH.  149 

amount  only  to  a  little  more  than  one  hundred  pounds,  independently  of 
some  pecuniary  obligations  to  some  parts  of  his  own  family !  Such  a 
debt,  when  enough  was  left  to  pay  it,  need  not  have  occupied  in  any 
serious  way  his  last  moments. 

We  have  seen  in  the  letter  of  Mrs.  Wesley  to  her  son  John,  giving 
account  of  Mr.  Wesley's  dangerous  fall  (see  page  140)  that  in  1731 
they  had  rented  a  piece  of  ground  from  a  Mrs.  Knight  at  Lmc  Mill- 
wood. It  is  very  probable  that  Mr.  Wesley  held  this  ground  till  he 
died ;  for  we  find  in  a  part  of  the  preceding  letter,  that  fifteen  pounds 
were  owing  to  this  Mrs.  Knight  at  the  time  of  his  interment.  This 
inhuman  woman,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  widow  herself,  took  advan- 
tage of  the  family  distress ;  and  not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  her 
eyes,  and  instigated  thereto  by  the  malice  of  the  devil,  seized  the  whole 
of  poor  Mr.  W  esley's  cattle  on  the  same  day,  without  giving  one  hour's 
grace  for  the  payment !  A  more  unfeeling,  a  more  abominable,  a  more 
inhuman  act,  I  never  heard  of.  I  record  this  action,  that  I  may  hand 
down  the  name  of  this  Mrs.  Knight  with  deserved  infamy  while  my 
page  shall  last ; 

"  And  time  her  blacker  name  shall  blurre  with  blackest  ink." 

Mr.  Wesley  lies  buried  in  Epworth  church  yard,  under  a  plain  grit 
tombstone,  supported  by  brick  work  ;  on  which  is  engraved  the  follow- 
ing inscription.  I  give  it  line  for  line  with  the  original. 

Lyeth  all  that  was 
Mortal  of  SAMUEL  WESLEY, 
A.  M.      He  was  Rector  of  EP- 
WORTH 39  years  and  departed 
this  Life  25  of  April  1735 

Aged  72. 

As  he  liv'd  so  he  died, 

in  the  true  Catholick  Faith 

of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  Unity, 

And  that  JESUS  CHRIST  is  God 

incarnate:  and  the  only 

Saviour  of  Mankind, 

Acts  iv,  12. 
Blessed  are  the  dead 
Which  die  in  the  Lord,  yea 
saith  the  Spirit  that  they  may 
rest  from  their  Labours  and 
their  works  do  follow  them. 
Rev.  xiv,  13. 

This  was  the  original  inscription,  cut  in  the  manner  above  represented; 
under  whose  direction  and  management  I  cannot  tell.  Becoming  nearly 
oblitecated,  the  brick  work  was  repaired  in  the  year  1819,  the  stone 
turned  and  recut,  with  the  same  inscription ;  only  the  lines  do  not  all 
end  in  the  same  way  as  above,  but  with  equal  absurdity  and  unskilful- 
nesa  in  the  division. 

The  whole  is  utterly  unworthy  of  the  man,  the  Christian,  and  the 
minister ;  and  as  the  family  is  now  nearly  extinct,  it  is  hoped  that  the 
Methodist  body  will  erect  a  decent  monument  for  the  father  of  John 
Wesley  their  founder,  that  may  serve  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  hit 
excellence ;  and  their  gratitude  to  God,  who  from  this  source  raised  up 


A, 


150  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 


e  man  who  has  been  such  a  blessing  to  the  British  nation,  to  the  isles 
of  the  sea,  and  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

His  son  Samuel  wrote  his  character  in  a  poem  intituled  The  Parish 
Priest,  which  was  published  the  following  year  1736,  in  his  Poems  on 
several  Occasions.  This  places  the  rector  of  Epworth  in  &  favourable 
and  true  light. 

Accept,  clear  SIRE,  this  humble  tribute  paid, 

This  small  memorial  to  a  parent's  shade. 

Tho'  fair  the  hope,  thou  reign'st  enthren'd  on  high, 

Where  sin  can  never  stain,  nor  sorrow  sigh ; 

Yet  still  a  son  may  duteous  mourning  wear, 

And  nature  unreprov'd  may  drop  a  tear. 

No  glosing  falsehood  on  thy  name  is  thrown, 

Which  oft  pollutes  the  monumental  stone. 

Plain  truth  shall  speak,  which  thou  thyself  might'st  hear, 

As  far  from  flatt'ry  as  it  is  from  fear. 

A  PARISH  PRIEST,  not  of  the  pilgrim  kind, 
But  fix'd  and  faithful  to  the  post  assign'd, 
Through  various  scenes  with  equal  virtue  trod, 
True  to  his  oath,  his  order,  and  his  God. 
Wise  without  art,  he  shone  in  doubtful  days 
Of  fear,  of  shame,  of  danger,  and  of  praise. 
When  zealous  James  unhappy  sought  the  way 
T'  establish  Rome  by  arbitrary  sway, 
Whose  crime  from  fondness  for  religion  springs, 
(A  crime  ne'er  pardon'd  in  the  lives  of  kings!) 
'Twas  then  the  Christian  priest  was  nobly  try'd,    . 
When  hireling  slaves  embrac'd  the  stronger  side, 
And  saintly  sects  and  sycophants  comply'd. 
In  vain  were  bribes  shower'd  by  the  guilty  crown ; 
He  sought  no  favour,  as  he  fear'd  no  frown. 
Nor  loudest  storms  his  steady  purpose  broke, 
Firm  as  the  beaten  anvil  to  the  stroke. 
Secure  in  faith,  exempt  from  worldly  views, 
He  dared  the  Declaration  to  refuse : 
Then  from  the  sacred  pulpit  boldly  show'd 
The  dauntless  Hebrews  true  to  Israel's  God, 
Who  spake  regardless  of  their  king's  commands, 
"  The  God  we  serve  can  save  us  from  thy  hands  ;* 
If  not,  O  monarch,  know  we  choose  to  die, 
Thy  gods  alike  and  threatenings  we  defy  ; 
No  power  on  earth  our  faith  has  e'er  controll'd, 
We  scorn  to  worship  idols,  though  of  gold." 
Resistless  truth  damp'd  all  the  audience  round  ; 
The  base  informer  sicken'd  at  the  sound  ; 
Attentive  courtiers,  conscious,  stood  amaz'd, 
And  soldiers,  silent,  trembled  as  they  gaz'd. 
No  smallest  murmur  of  distaste  arose, 
Abash'd  and  vanquish'd  seemed  the  Church's  foes. 
So  when  like  zeal  their  bosoms  did  inspire, 
The  Jewish  martyrs  walk'd  unhurt  in  fire. 

Nor  yet  could  Romish  faith  so  dreadful  seem, 
To  fright  his  judgment  to  a  worse  extreme ; 
To  throw  up  creeds  for  fear  of  papal  pow'r, 
And  blame  St.  Peter  for  his  successor. 
For  when  the  Church  her  danger  had  subdu'd, 
And  felt  on  earth  the  usual  gratitude, 
When  favour'd  sects  o'erspread  Britannia's  plains, 
Like  frogs,  thick  swarming,  after  summer  rains ; 

*  He  preached  on  Dan.  iii,  17,  18. 


RiMUEL   WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF  EPTVORTH. 

Againt  far  different  foes  alike  prepaid, 

No  wild  disputer  found  him  off  his  guard. 

Nor  those  who  following  late  Socinus'  plan, 

Degraded  God  incarnate  to  a  man ; 

Nor  those,  who  wresting  texts  with  greater  sleight, 

With  Heav'n,  as  taught  by  elder  Arms,  fight : 

Reasoners,  who  no  absurdity  can  see 

In  a  new  made  dependent  Deity. 

Among  his  corn  no  tares  neglected  spring ; 

That  free-born  subjects  ought  to  rule  their  king, 

That  sense  and  revelation  disagree, 

That  zeal  is  still  at  war  with  charity  ; 

That  dust-born  reptiles  may  their  God  disown, 

And  place  their  foolish  reason  in  his  throne. 

No  colours  false  deceiv'd  his  wary  eye, 

Nor  lukewarm  peace,  nor  atheist  liberty. 

Scripture  and  fathers  guide  his  footsteps  right ; 

For  truth  is  one,  but  error  infinite. 

With  love  to  souls,  and  deepest  learning  fraught, 

His  Master's  Gospel  undisguis'd  he  taught. 

He  show'd  the  pow'r  of  kings,  the  mitre's  sway, 

Which  earth  can  neither  give  nor  take  away. 

That  duty  from  divine  command  is  known, 

Fix'd  on  th'  Almighty's  will,  and  not  our  own. 

That  unbelievers  must  receive  their  hire, 

The  sure  allotment  of  eternal  fire. 

And  God  the  faithful  sower  pleas'd  to  bless, 

And  crowned  his  harvest  with  a  vast  success. 

While  forty  years  his  heav'nly  doctrine  charms, 

No  single  son  forsakes  the  Church's  arms: 

No  Romish  wolf  around  his  fences  prowl'd,* 

Nor  fox  dissenter  earth'd  within  his  fold. 

Not  but  when  parties  fierce  in  feuds  engage, 
When  moderation  spurs  her  sons  to  rage, 
When  all  elect  or  reprobate  have  been, 
In  these  no  virtue  dwells,  in  those  no  sin  ; 
Then  their  low  scandals  on  his  head  they  show'r, 
As  friend  to  papal  and  despotic  pow'r, 
E'en  those  who  once  were  tools  to  popish  aims, 
The  treach'rous  darlings  of  deluded  James, 
Who  now  the  purest  reformation  boast, 
Tho'  then  their  tender  consciences  were  lost, 
E'en  those  far  off  with  lies  his  fame  assail, 
And  their  bad  patrons  help  the  wicked  tale. 
'Tis  thus  the  serpent  to  his  cavern  glides, 
And  safe  his  wily  head  from  winter  hides ; 
But  when  returning  seasons  warmth  inspire, 
And  wake  his  sleeping  poison  into  fire, 
With  youth  renew'd,  behold  the  reptile  rise, 
He  waves  and  glitters  in  the  dog-day  skies, 
Shoots  'cross  the  road  when  sounding  steps  draw  near, 
And  springs  t'  assault  the  way-beat  traveller  : 
Who  durst  his  course  in  rains  and  whirlwinds  hold, 
And  paas'd  unshelter'd  through  December's  cold. 

Griev'd  for  the  Church's  shame,  with  pitying  eye, 
He  saw  the  worthless  abjects  lifted  high  ; 
Empty  alike  of  learning  and  of  brain, 
As  if  the  pope  had  reassum'd  his  reign, 
And  brought  our  ancient  Mumpsimus  again. 
With  fruitless  toil  let  midnight  scholars  pore, 
And  dig  the  mine,  while  others  gain  the  ore ; 

*  There  was  not  a  dissenter  or  papist  in  his  parish. 


or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Proud  of  demerit,  claiming  as  their  own 

The  stall  prebendal,  or  prelatic  throne : 

While  Johnson  from  his  Cranbrook  ne'er  shall  part, 

And  Fiddes  pining  sighs  with  broken  heart ; 

While  Grabe  in  vain  t'  unthankful  Britain  flies, 

And  Wall  neglected  in  a  corner  lies, 

And  poor,  and  unrewarded  Bingham  dies  ; 

While  names  obscure  undue  advancement  meet, 

And  T could  conquer  Stillingfleet, 

Nor  yet  on  those  preferred  he  cast  the  blame, 
Far  more  the  patrons  than  the  clerks  inflame. 
Patrons  afraid  of  sense,  but  not  of  vice, 
Elate  with  pride,  or  sunk  with  avarice. 
Patrons  by  villains  sought,  by  slaves  ador'd ; 
Scorn'd  by  the  gen'rous,  by  the  good  abhorr'd. 
Or  private  rascals,  who  from  conscience  free, 
Search  ev'ry  latent  nook  of  simony; 
Who  but  on  base  conditiens  ne'er  present, 
And  future  tithes  by  present  bonds  prevent : 
Or  knaves  more  public,  studious  to  promote 
Elections,  bart'ring  benefice  for  vote. 
Is  he  self-will'd,  or  knows  he  to  obey? 
Enough !  no  farther  tittle  need  you  say  : 
A  useful  man  may  as  he  pleases  live, 
But  worth  's  a  crime  we  never  can  forgive. 
So  when  the  Roman  Peter  wants  an  heir, 
If  rogues  of  both  religions  we  compare, 
Tho'  worthy  candidates  the  popedom  seek, 
Expert  in  Latin,  and  well  read  in  Greek: 
The  conclave  sly,  with  Machiavilian  views, 
One  to  be  govern'd,  not  to  govern,  choose. 
Like  Quakers,  human  learning  they  forswear, 
And  ignorance  best  fills  th'  unerring  chair. 
The  statesmen  laugh,  let  Bellarmine  go  fume, 
No  fam'd  Perron  the  purple  shall  assume, 
No,  nor  Baronius'  self,  the  Atlas  of  their  Rome. 

When  age,  not  hasten'd  on  by  guilt  or  cares, 
Grac'd  him  with  silver  crown  of  hoary  hairs, 
His  looks  the  tenor  of  his  soul  express, 
An  easy  unaffected  cheerfulness  ; 
Steadfast,  not  stiff;  and  awful,  not  austere ; 
Tho'  courteous,  rev'rend ;  and  tho'  smooth,  sincere : 
In  converse  free ;  for  ev'ry  subject  fit ; 
The  coolest  reason  join'd  to  keenest  wit ; 
Wit,  that- with  aim  resistless  knows  to  fly, 
Disarms  unthought  of,  and  prevents  reply: 
So  lightning  falls  the  mountain  oaks  among, 
As  sure,  as  quick,  as  shining,  and  as  strong. 
Skilful  of  sportive  stories  forth  to  pour, 
A  gay,  a  humourous,  an  exhaustless  store. 
With  sharpest  point  and  justest  force  apply'd, 
The  purport  never  dark  and  never  wide. 
Not  adversaries  selves  applause  forbore, 
And  those  who  blam'd  him  most,  admir'd  him  more. 
Scarcely  the  Phrygian  fam'd  for  moral  tales, 
Who  useful  truth  in  pleasing  fiction  veils, 
Who  wisdom  deep  in  plants  and  brutes  can  find, 
And  makes  all  creatures  tutors  to  mankind ; 
In  apter  fable  solid  sense  convey'd, 
With  sounder  substance,  or  with  finer  shade. 

He  mouni'd  with  those  who  pain  or  want  endure, 
A  guardian  angel  to  the  sick  and  poor ; 


SAMUEL    WESLEY,  RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  153 

Where  the  two  best  of  charities  he  join'd, 
To  cure  the  body,  and  to  heal  the  mind. 
Across  his  path  no  wretch  expiring  lies,* 
Nor  querulous  blind  bewail  their  loss  of  eyes: 
No  mangled  cripple  there  cxpos'd  his  maim, 
The  shock  of  nature,  and  the  nation's  shame ; 
The  stranger's  view  no  startling  object  meets, 
And  no  complaining  griev'd  his  happy  streets. 
Oft  as  the  year  brought  back  the  glorious  day 
When  infant  JESUS  in  a  manger  lay, 
Or  when  from  death  the  GOD  triumphant  came, 
Or  when  the  HOLT  GHOST  descends  in  flame, 
Around  his  board  the  welcome  needy  sate, 
And  crowd  his  parlour,  not  besiege  his  gate ; 
T'  obey  their  word  his  children  waited  near, 
And  learnt  their  Saviour's  image  to  revere. 
This  charity  perform'd,  the  wealthier  guest 
Was  call'd  to  share  his  hospitable  feast ; 
The  poor  invited  first,  his  table  grace, 
And  riches  only  held  the  second  place. 

While  silken  courtiers  and  embroider'd  lords, 
To  whom  the  earth  her  mines  in  vain  affords, 
Too  oft  their  need  unable  to  supply, 
In  spite  of  wealth  are  pinch'd  with  poverty: 
His  scanty  rent  suffic'd  for  ev'ry  call, 
Large  was  his  plenty,  tho'  his  income  small ; 
Alike  in  prudence  and  in  bounty  skill'd, 
He  never  drain'd  his  purse,  nor  ever  fili'd. 
None  e'er  did  twice  his  ready  alms  desire, 
Nor  lack'd  the  lab'rer  his  expected  hire  : 
Enrich'd  by  doing  good  a  thousand-fold, 
He  rarely  gain'd,  and  never  wanted  gold. 
Well-stor'd  to  give,  and  furnish'd  still  to  lend, 
To  raise  the  friendless,  and  support  the  friend. 
With  ceaseless  streams  his  well  plac'd  treasure  flows, 
When  spent  increases,  and  by  less'ning  grows. 
So  when  Elijah  dwelt  on  earth,  (as  far 
As  miracle  with  conduct  we  compare,) 
Sarepta's  widow,  hoping  no  supply, 
Thought  on  her  little  store  to  eat  and  die : 
Soon  as  she  welcom'd  her  prophetic  guest, 
The  cruse  flow'd  lib'ral,  and  the  A>rn  increas'd ; 
Th'  Almighty  pow'r  unfailing  plenty  sent, 
The  oil  unwasted,  and  the  meal  unspent 

Such  was  the  man  by  friends  and  foes  confest, 
Worthy  the  glorious  name  of  PARISH  PRIEST. 
Had  not  kind  Heav'n  some  champions  pleas'd  to  show, 
In  merit  high,  tho'  in  preferment  low ; 
Whose  pray'rs  and  tears  might  stop  th'  Almighty's  hand. 
Protecting  angels  to  a  guilty  land, 
From  earth's  vain  hopes  and  base  ambition  free, 
Whose  slighted,  but  effectual  piety, 
Stood  like  a  mound  unshaken,  to  repress 
Th'  o'erbearing  floods  of  prosp'rous  wickedness: 
The  Christian  faith  had  left  Britannia's  coast, 
Her  lamp  extinguish'd,  and  her  Gospel  lost : 
Our  eyes  e'er  this  had  seen  religion  fall, 
And  black  apostasy  had  delug'd  all ; 
Nor  more  remains  of  truth  had  flourished  here, 

*  Th«re  were  no  begjari  in  hif  town. 
20 


154  or  ;MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTOR*. 

Than  where  poor  Asia's  ruins  scarce  appear, 
And  Unitarian  Turks  their  impious  crescent  rear. 
O  could  the  PRIEST  by  God  and  angels  priz'd, 
By  fiends  insulted,  and  by  fools  despis'd, 
His  fight  well  fought,  when  summon'd  hence  to  go, 
Not  then  regardless  of  his  charge  below, 
Tho'  sudden  snatch'd  from  our  desiring  eyes, 
Bequeath  his  mantle,  as  he  mounts  the  skies ! 

O  may  his  friends,  at  the  last  dreadful  day, 
When  all  the  frail  creation  fades  away, 
When  GOD  incarnate  fills  the  judgment  throne, 
Crown'd  with  his  Father's  radiance  and  his  own, 
Arise  with  gladness,  bliss  ordain'd  to  share, 
And  I,  transported,  meet  a  father  there ! 
See  him  lead  up  his  flock  with  happy  boast, 
"  These  sheep  thou  gav'st  me,  and  not  one  is  lost." 
Exulting  hear  the  final  Euge  giv'n, 
"Enter,  thou  faithful  servant,  to  my  heav'n." 
Glory,  which  here  tho'  faith  may  well  believe, 
No  speech  can  utter,  and  no  thought  conceive ; 
When  weary  time  his  utmost  race  has  run, 
Glory  through  endless  ages  but  begun, 
Beyond  the  glimm'ring  spark  of  our  meridian  sun. 

To  those  who  believe  the  character  has  not  been  overdrawn,  and 
that  the  son  has  not  been  too  partial  to  the  father,  nothing  need  be 
added. 

I  have  taken  care  to  inquire  upon  the  spot  (where  the  memory  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  is  still  well  preserved  among  the  elderly  and  more 
respectable  inhabitants)  concerning  the  man  and  his  communications  ; 
and  I  have  had  in  substance  the  same  character  which  in  the  above 
poem  was  given  by  his  son. 

From  some  family  papers  I  learn  that  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  was  of  a 
short  stature ;  spare,  but  athletic  make  ;  and,  from  what  I  can  collect, 
nearly  resembling  in  person  his  son  John :  and  it  is  very  likely  that  the 
picture  engraved  by  Vertue,  and  prefixed  to  his  Dissertations  on  the 
Book  of  Job,  was  a  correct  resemblance. 

His  spirit  and  temper  may  "be  seen  in  his  writings,  and  in  the  pre- 
ceding account. 

He  was  earnest,  conscientious,  and  indefatigable  in  his  search  after 
truth.  He  thought  deeply  on  every  subject  which  was  either  to  form 
an  article  in  his  creed,  or  a  principle  for  his  conduct.  And  having 
formed  these,  he  boldly  maintained  them ;  conscious  of  his  own  integrity, 
and  zealous  for  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  orthodox  faith.  His 
orthodoxy  was  pure  and  solid  ;  his  religious  conduct  strictly  correct  in 
all  respects  ;  his  piety  toward  God  ardent ;  his  loyalty  to  his  king 
unsullied  ;  and  his  love  to  bis  fellow  creatures  strong  and  unconfined. 
Though  of  high  Church  principles,  and  high  Church  politics,  yet  he 
could  separate  the  man  from  the  opinions  he  held,  and  the  party  he  had 
espoused  ;  and  when  he  found  him  in  distress,  knew  him  only  as  a  man 
and  a  brother.  He  was  a  rigid  disciplinarian  both  in  his  Church  and 
bis  family.  He  knew  all  his  parishioners  ;  and  he  knew  them  as  the 
flock  over  which  he  believed  the  Holy  Spirit  had  made  him  an  overseer ; 
and  for  whom  he  must  give  account  to  the  great  Bishop  and  Shepherd 


SAMUEL   WESLET,   RECTOR  OF   EPWORTH.  155 

of  souls.  He  visited  his  parishioners  from  house  to  house  5  he  sifted 
their  creed,  and  permitted  none  to  be  corrupt  in  their  opinions  or  in 
their  practices,  without  instruction  or  reprooj, 

These  things  have  been  attested  to  me  by  aged  respectable  inhabit- 
ants of  Epworth  ;  to  whom  the  memory  of  the  man  and  the  pastor  is 
still  dear. 

His  family  he  kept  in  the  strictest  order ;  and  though  authoritative 
in  all  his  deportment  toward  them,  yet  he  was  ever  sufficiently  tender ; 
so  that  he  had  entirely  secured  their  affection  and  respect.  It  is  pleasing 
to  behold  this  in  all  the  letters  that  passed  between  him  and  hie  children. 
Had  not  his  authority  and  parental  tenderness  been  duly  attempered, 
his  children  would  have  either  feared  him  as  their  judge,  or  treated  him 
as  their  play  fellow.  1  have  often  seen  great  evils  produced  by  parents 
acting  on  one  only  of  these  opposite  extremes. 

As  a  controversial  writer,  he  had  considerable  dexterity  in  managing 
an  argument,  and  defending  himself.  But  he  sometimes  betrays  an 
acrimony  of  spirit  against  his  opponents,  the  .common  fault  of  polemic 
divines. 

To  his  judicious  method  of  instructing  and  managing  his  family  we 
owe,  under  God,  many  of  those  advantages  and  blessings  which  as  a 
religious  p'eople  we  possess  ;  and  even  on  this  account,  his  name  among 
the  Methodists  should  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance. 

Mr.  Wesley  had  a  large  share  of  vivacity.  In  his  private  conversa- 
tion he  was  very  entertaining  and  instructive.  He  had  a  large  fund  of 
anecdote ;  and  a  profusion  both  of  witty  and  wise  sayings,  wliich  he 
knew  well  how  to  apply  for  the  instruction  or  correction  of  those  who 
were  favoured  with  his  company.  To  this  rare  and  useful  talent  his 
son  Samuel  alludes  in  the  following  verses  of  the  ppe.ro  called  The 
Parish  Priest, — 

"In  converse  free  ;  for  every  subject  fit; 
The  coolest  reason  join'd  to  keenest  wit ; 
Wit,  that  with  aim  resistless  knows  to  fly. 
Disarms  untheught  of,  and  prevents  reply. 
Skilful  of  sportive  stories  forth  to  pour, 
A  ?ay,  a  humourous,  an  exhaustless  store, 
With  sharpest  point  and  justest  force  applied, 
The  purport  never  dark  and  never  wide. 
Scarcely  the  Phrygian  fam'd  for  moral  tales, 
Who  useful  truth  in  pleasing  fiction  veils, 
Who  wisdom  deep  in  plants  and  brutes  can  find, 
And  makes  all  creatures  tutors  to  mankind ; 
In  apter/oWe  solid  sense  convey'd, 
With  sounder  substance,  or  with  finer  shade." 

He  was  accustomed  to  treat  his  friends  and  the  poor  on  the  three 
grand  festivals,  Christmas,  Easter,  and  Whitsuntide.  But  the  poor 
always  sat  down  first,  and  were  attended  by  his  daughters  ;  and  when 
they  had  eaten  heartily  and  departed,  the  richer  guests  took  the  vacant 
seats.  This  circumstance  has  not  be-en  forgotten  in  the  above  poem. 

"  Oft  as  the  year  brought  b'ack  the  glorious  day 
When  infant  JESUS  in  a  manger  lay, 
Or  when/rom  death  the  GOD  triumphant  came, 
Or  when  the  HOLT  GHOST  descends  in  flame, 


156  OP  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Around  his  board  the  welcome  needy  sate. 
And  crowd  his  parlour,  not  besiege  his  gate  ;V-  4 
T'  obey  thoir  word  his  children  waited  near, 
And  learnt  their  Saviour's  image  to  revere. 
This  charity  perform'd,  the  wealthier  guest 
Was  call'd  to  share  his  hospitable  feast, 
The  poor,  invited  first,  his  table  grace, 
And  riches  only  held  the  second  place." 

All  this  is  highly  praiseworthy;  for  a  parish  priest,  who  is  bishop  of 
his  own  place,  should  be  given  to  hospitality;  and  when  he  has  the 
means,  nothing  is  more  becoming.  But  it  is  a  truth  that  many  of  these 
have  little  or  nothing  to  spare ;  and  Mr.  Wesley  was  always  in  such 
circumstances  ;  and  with  these  his  son  Samuel  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  duly  acquainted,  as  the  following  lines  show,  which  are  far  from 
feeing  strictly  correct, — 

u  His  scanty  rent  suffic'd  for  every  call ; 
Large  was  his  plenty  though  his  income  small: 
Alike  in  prudence  and  in  bounty  skill'd ; 
He  never  drained  his  purse,  nor  ever./Wd." 

The  contrary  to  this  has  sufficiently  appeared.  But  poetry  seldom 
speaks  the  strict  language  of  truth ;  and  while  duty  binds  us  to  note 
them,  we  pardon  such  oversights  in  the  grateful  effusions  of  an  affec- 
tionate child. 

Mr.  Wesley  had  a  clerk,  a  well-meaning,  honest,  but  weak,  and  vain 
man.  He  believed  the  rector,  his  master,  to  be  the  greatest  man  in  tiw 
parish,  if  not  in  the  county; — and  himself,  as  he  stood  next  to  him  in 
church  ministrations,  to  be  next  to  him  in  worth  and  importance.  He 
had  the  advantage  and  privilege  ofwearing  out  Mr.  Wesley's  cast  clothes 
and  wigs,  for  the  latter  of  which,  his  head  was  by  far  too  small ;  and  the 
figure  he  cut  in  it  was  most  ludicrously  grotesque.  The  rector  finding 
him  particularly  vain  of  one  of  those  canonical  substitutes  for  hair  which 
he  had  lately  received,  formed  the  design  to  mortify  him  in  the  presence 
of  that  congregation  before  which  John  wished  to  appear  in  every  respect 
what  he  thought  himself,  the  next  person  in  importance  to  his  master. 
One  morning  before  church  time  Mr.  W.  said,  "John,  I  shall  preach  on 
a  particular  subject  to-day  ;  and  shall  choose  my  own  psalm,  of  which 
I  shall  give  out  the  first  line,  and  you  shall  proceed  as  usual."  John 
was  pleased  ;  and  the  service  went  forward  as  it  was  wont  to  do  till 
they  came  to  the  singing,  when  Mr.  Wesley  gave  out  the  following 
line, — 

"Like  to  an  owl  in  ivy  bush." 

This  was  sung  ; — and  the  following  line,  John  peeping  out  of  the  large 
canonical  wig  in  which  his  head  was  half  lost,  gave  out  with  an  audible 
voice  and  appropriate  connecting  twang, — 
"That  rueful  thing  am  I!" 

The  whole  congregation,  struck  with  John's  appearance,  saw,  and  felt 
the  similitude,  and  burst  out  into  laughter. 

The  rector  was  pleased ;  for  John  was  mortified,  and  his  self-con- 
ceit lowered. 


SAMUEL  ANNESI.EY,  LL.  D.  157 

This  is  the  same  man  who,  when  King  William  returned  to  London 
ifter  some  of  his  expeditions,  gave  out  in  Epworth  church, — "  Let  us 
sing  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  God,  a  hymn  of  my  own  composing  : — 

"  King  William  is  come  home,  con.e  home, 

King  William  home  is  come  ; 
Therefore  let  us  together  sing 

The  hymn  dial's  call'd  Te  Wum." 

I  have  only  to  add  that  a  sycamore  tree,  planted  by  Mr.  Wesley  in 
Epworth  church  yard,  is  now  (1821)  tiro  fathoms  in  girth  ;  and  propor- 
tionably  large  in  height,  boughs,  and  branches  ;  but  is  decaying  at  the 
root,  where  the  tree  is  now  becoming  hollow  :  a  melancholy  emblem 
of  the  state  of  a  very  eminent  family,  in  which  the  prophetic  office  and 
spirit  had  flourished  for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  which  is  now  nearly 
dried  up  from  the  earth,  and  is  no  more  likely  to  give  a  messenger  to 
the  Churches,  or  a  healer  to  Israel. 

I  have  dwelt  the  longer  upon  this  life,  as  no  adequate  justice  has 
ever  yet  been  done  to  it,  though  it  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  in  the 
history  of  Methodism  for  reasons  which  have  doubtless  appeared  to  the 
reader  in  its  perusal. 

Onthe/acfcand  incidents  the  most  implicit  confidence  may  be  safely 
placed,  as  they  are  all  taken  from  authentic  documents. 


SAMUEL  ANNESLEY,  LL.  D.  AND  HIS  CHILDREN. 

DR.  SAMUEL  ANNESLEY  is  too  nearly  connected  with  the  Wesley 
family,  as  being  the  father  of  Susanna,  wife  to  the  rector  of  Epworth, 
to  be  passed  by  without  notice,  in  any  memoirs  of  this  family. 

Dr.  Samuel  Annesley  was  born  at  Kenilworth,  near  Warwick,  in  the 
year  1620.  He  was  descended  of  a  good  family  ;  for  his  father,  and 
the  then  earl  of  Anglesey,  were  brother's  children.*  He  was  the  only 

*  The  family  of  Annesley,  or  Annesly,  or  as  it  is  in  Domesday  Book  Aneslei,  is 
of  great  antiquity  ;  deriving  its  name  from  the  wapentake  of  Oswardebec  or  Brox- 
ton,  in  the  county  of  Nottingham,  of  which  the  family  was  possessed  before  the 
Conquest ;  and  Richard  de  Aneslei  was  proprietor  of  it  in  1086,  when  the  domesday 
survey  was  taken  by  command  of  the  Conqueror. 

To  him  succeeded  Ralph  de  Aneslei,  called  Brito  de  Bret ;  who  gave  to  St.  Mary, 
and  the  house  of  Felly,  in  the  county  of  Nottingham,  and  to  the  brethren  thereof, 
the  domain' and  sole  right  of  the  patronage  of  the  church  of  Aneslei,  in  pure  alms  for 
the  salvation  of  himself,  bis  wife  and  heirs,  and  for  the  relief  of  his  departed  friends  : 
which  donation  was  confirmed  to  the  canons  by  Geoffry,  archbishop  of  York. 

I  must  pass  by  the  splendid  marriages  and  heraldic  honours  of  this  family,  con- 
tinued from  the  conquest  down  to  the  17th  century  ;  and  briefly  note,  that  Francis 
Annesley,  created  Baron  Mount  Norris,  and  Viscount  Valentia,  was  secretary  of 
slate,  and  vice- treasurer  of  Ireland,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 
,  Arthur  Annesley,  first  earl  of  Anglesea,  was  his  eldest  son  by  his  first  wife,  and 
succeeded  his  father  in  his  Irish  honours.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  loyalty  lo 
Charles  II.,  lo  whom  he  striclly  adhered  during  his  exile ;  and  advanced  his  interest 
at  the  hazard  of  his  life  and  property ;  for  which,  after  the  Restoralion,  this  Baron 
Annesley,  of  Newport  Pagnel,  and  earl  of  the  Isle  of  Anglesea,  was  appointed  one 
of  the  commissioners  for  sealing  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  where  he  was  then  vice-trea- 
surer, and  receiver-general.  In  1673,  he  was  made  lord  privy  seal,  and  one  of  the 
privy  council  in  boih  kingdoms.  He  died  in  1696,  leaving  seven  sons,  and  six 
daughters.  Dr.  Samuel  Annesley  was  brother's  son  to  this  first  earl  of  Anglesca. 


158  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

child  of  his  parents,  and  had  a  considerable  paternal  estate.  His  father 
dying  when  he  was  but  four  years  of  age,  his  education  devolved  on  his 
pious  mother,  who  brought  him  up  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  ;  and  as  he 
was  inclined  from  his  earliest  youth  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  she 
took  care  to  procure  him  a  suitable  education. 

His  grandmother,  who  was  a  very  pious  woman,  dying  before  he  was 
born,  requested  that  the  child,  if  a  boy,  should  be  called  Samuel ;  for, 
said  she,  "  I  can  say,  I  have  asked  him  of  the  Lord."  He  was  piously 
disposed  from  his  earliest  years,  and  his  heart  set  on  being  a  preacher 
of  the  Gospel  ;  and  to  qualify  himself  for  that  sacred  work,  he  began 
when  he  was  only  five  or  six  years  old  seriously  to  read  the  Bible  ;  and 
so  ardent  wa^  he  in  this  study  that  he  bound  himself  to  read  twenty 
chapters  every  day,  a  practice  which  he  continued  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  This  made  him  a  good  textuary ;  and,  consequently,  an  able 
divine.  Though  a  child  when  he  formed  the  resolution  to  be  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  it  is  said  he  never  varied  from  his  purpose  ;  nor  was  he 
discouraged  by  a  singular  dream,  in  which  "  he  thought  he  was  a  minis- 
ter, and  was  sent  for  by  the  bishop  of  London  to  be  burned  as  a  martyr." 

The  aforesaid  Francis  Viscount  Valentia  had  by  his  second  wife,  who  was  daugh- 
ter to  Sir  John  Stanhope,  brother  to  the  first  earl  of  Chesterfield,  seven  sons,  and 
two  daughters.  Francis,  George,  and  Samuel,  lived  ;  the  other  sons  died  young. 
George  was  drowned  in  the  Thames,  stepping  into  a  packet  boat  with  despatches  for 
Charles  II.  Samuel  married,  and  died  without  issue.  Francis  Annesley  was  attainted 
by  King  James's  parliament,  for  opposing  the  arbitrary  measures  of  that  prince,  by 
raising  some  horse  and  foot  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  He  married  the  daughter  of  the 
bishop  of  Meath,  by  whom  he  had  Francis  his  heir,  and  Arthur  and  Henry,  who 
died  without  issue. 

Francis  was  appointed  by  act  of  parliament  of  King  William  one  of  the  trustees 
for  the  sale  of  forfeited  estates  in  Ireland  ;  and  in  the  9th  of  dueen  Anne,  one  of  the 
commissioners  for  public  accounts.  He  was  elected  member  of  parliament  for 
Preston  in  1705,  and  for  Westbury  in  six  succeeding  parliaments.  He  was  the 
first  promoter  in  the  house  of  commons  for  building  fifty  new  churches  in  the  city  of 
London  ;  and  one  of  the  commissioners  for  that  purpose. 

He  married  first  in  1695  the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Martin,  of  London,  by  whom  he 
had  seven  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  eldest  son  was  Francis,  L.L.  D.,  rector  of 
Winwick,  in  Lancashire,  John,  the  fourth  earl  of  Anglesea,  was  in  the  privy 
council  of  dueen  Anne.  Arthur,  his  brother,  was  in  three  parliaments  during  her 
reign  ;  and  was  one  of  the  privy  council  to  George  I. 

On  the  death  of  the  sixth  earl  of  Anglesea,  who  was  created  Lord  Altham,  and 
died  without  issue,  the  title  devolved  on  Richard  Annesley,  D.  D.,  prebend  of  West- 
minster, and  dean  of  Exeter. 

Dr.  Francis  Annesley,  rector  of  Winwick,  married  the  daughter  of  Robert  Gager, 
of  Stoke  Paget,  Bucks,  by  the  Lady  Anne,  daughter  of  James,  the  second  earl  of 
Anglesea,  his  cousin. 

Francis  Annesley,  Esq.  D.C.L.  master  of  Downing  College,  Cambridge,  who  sat 
in  six  parliaments, -and  was  in  1805  member  for  Reading,  since  dead,  was  a  de- 
scendant from  Dr.  Samuel  Annesley.  He  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  British 
Museum,  representing  the  family  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton. 

We  see  that  the  family  of  Annesley  was  among  the  most  ancient  and  respectable 
in  the  kingdom,  and  existed  previously  to  the  Norman  Conquest. 

The  connection  of  the  present  Wesley  family  with  the  Annesleys  stands  thus  : — 
John  Wesley,  late  fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford,  was  son  to  Samue/and  Susanna 
Wesley.  Susanna  was  daughter  to  Dr.  Samuel  Annesley.  Dr.  Annesley  was  son 
to Annesley,  who  was  brother  to  Arthur,  first  earl  of  Anglesea. 

In  some  of  the  original  letters  of  Mrs.  Wesley,  I  find  that  she  sealed  with  the 
Annesley  arms,  which  are  paly  of  six  pieces,  argent  and  azure  ;  a  bend  gules;  crest 
9  blackamoore'shead  sidefared,  proper,  wreathed  about  the  temples,  argent  and  azure, 


SAMUEL   ANNESLEY,   LL.  D.  159 

When  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age  he  went  to  the  university  of  Ox- 
ford, and  entered  of  Queen's  College  ;  where  he  took  his  degrees  at  the 
usual  times;  and  in  1644  was  ordained  as  chaplain  of  his  majesty's 
ship  Globe,  under  the  command  of  the  earl  of  Warwick,  then  lord  high 
admiral ;  who  procured  him  his  diploma  of  LL.  D.,  having  had  an 
honourable  certificate  of  his  ordination  signed  by  Mr.  Gouge,  and  six 
other  respectable  ministers. 

He  spent  some  time  in  the  fleet,  and  kept  a  journal  of  the  voyage  ;  and 
is  very  particular  as  to  what  passed  when  the  earl  of  Warwick  went  to 
Holland  in  pursuit  of  the  ships  that  had  gone  over  to  the  prince.  But  not 
liking  a  seafaring  life  he  left  the  navy,  and  settled  at  Cliff,  in  Kent,  in 
the  place  of  a  minister  who  had  been  sequestered  for  scandalous  conduct, 
attending  public  meetings  of  the  people  for  dancing,  drinking,  and  mer- 
riment on  the  Lord's  day.  But  it  was  like  pastor  like  people  ;  for  the 
inhabitants  of  the  place  were  so  attached  to  their  sinful  leader,  that 
when  his  successor  came  they  assailed  him  with  spits,  forks,  and  stones, 
threatening  to  take  away  his  life.  He  told  them  that  "  let  them  use- 
him  as  they  would,  he  was  determined  to  stay  with  them  till  God 
should  fit  them  by  his  ministry  to  profit  by  one  better,  who  might  suc- 
ceed him ;  and  solemnly  declared,  that  when  they  became  so  pre- 
pared, he  would  leave  the  place." 

In  a  few  years  his  labours  had  surprising  success,  so  that  the  people 
became  greatly  reformed.  However,  he  kept  his  word,  and  left  them  ; 
lest  any  seeming  inconsistency  of  his  might  prove  a  stumbling  block  to 
his  young  converts  ;  for  though  he  had  400/.  per  annum  there,  it  was 
no  temptation  to  him  to  induce  him  to  break  the  promise  he  had  made. 

A  veiy  signal  providence,  it  is  said,  directed  him  to  a  settlement  in 
London,  in  1652,  by  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  inhabitants  of  St. 
John  the  Apostle.  Soon  after  he  was  made  lecturer  of  St.  Paul's,  and 
in  1658  became  vicar  of  St.  Giles'  Cripplegate  ;  two  of  the  largest  con- 
gregations in  the  city. 

On  the  Restoration,  he  was  confirmed  in  the  above  vicarage  by  the 
king,  who  presented  the  living  to  him  Aug.  23,  1660. 

But  this  did  not  screen  him  from  the  oppressive  operation  of  the  Act 
of  Uniformity,  by  which  he  was  ejected  from  this  vicarage  in  1662. 
After  this  he  met  with  many  troubles  for  conscience'  sake,  and  many 
signal  deliverances.  God  was  not  pleased  with  his  persecutors  ; — one 
magistrate,  while  signing  a  warrant  to  apprehend  him,  dropped  down 
dead  !  Might  not  the  hand  of  God  have  been  seen  in  this  ?  and  yet 
the  living  laid  it  not  to  heart. 

Among  the  Nonconformists,  Dr.  Jlnnesley  was  particularly  and  de- 
servedly eminent.  He  had  in  effect  the  care  of  all  those  churches  ; 
and  was  the  chief,  often  the  sole,  instrument  in  the  education  and  sub- 
sistence of  several  ministers,  of  whose  useful  labours  the  Church  had 
otherwise  been  deprived. 

Of  all  gifts,  salaries,  and  income,  he  always  laid  aside  the  tenths  for 
chanty,  before  any  part  was  spent.  By  this  means  he  had  always  a 
fund  at  hand  for  charitable  uses,  beside  what  he  was  furnished  with  by 
others,  for  the  same  purposes. 

He  was  the  main  support  of  the  morning  lecture,  for  which  so  many 


160  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

have  cause  to  be  thankful  to  God.  And  after  the  death  of  old  Mr. 
Case,  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  Milk-street,  who  was  the  first  that  set 
up  the  morning  exercises,  Dr.  Annesley  took  the  care  of  this  institution 
upon  himself.  This  morning  lecture  or  exercise,  originated  in  the 
following  way : — Most  of  the  citizens  in  London  having  some  friend 
or  relation  in  the  army  of  the  earl  of  Essex,  so  many  bills  were  sent 
up  to  the  pulpit  every  Lord's  day  for  their  preservation,  that  the  minis- 
ters had  not  time  to  notice  them  in  prayer,  or  even  to  read  them.  It 
was  therefore  agreed  to  set  apart  an  hour  every  morning  at  seven  o'clock; 
half  of  it  to  be  spent  in  prayer  for  the  welfare  of  the  public,  as  well  as 
particular  cases  ;  and  the  other  half  to  be  spent  in  exhortations  to  the 
people.  Mr.  Case  began  it  in  his  church  in  Milk-street ;  from  which 
it  was  removed  to  other  remote  churches  in  rotation,  a  month  at  each 
church.  A  number  of  the  most  eminent  ministers  conducted  this 
service  in  turn  ;  and  it  was  attended  by  great  crowds  of  people.  After 
the  heat  of  the  war  was  over,  it  became  what  was  called  a  casuistical 
lecture,  and  continued  till  the  Restoration.  The  sermons  delivered  at 
these  lectures  were  collected  and  published  in  six  vols.  quarto. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  sermon  on  the  question,  "  Wherein 
lies  that  exact  righteousness  which  is  required  between  man  and  man  ?" 
Matt,  vii,  12,  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  &c, 
was  preached  by  Mr.  Tillotson,  afterward  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
who  then  ranked  with  the  Nonconformists  !  See  Neal's  History  of  the 
Puritans,  vol.  i,  p.  797,  quarto,  and  Nonconformists'  Memorial,  vol.  i, 
p.  125,  &c. 

In  speaking  of  Dr.  Jlnnesleyjs  character,  Dr.  Calamy  says,  "  He  was 
an  Israelite  indeed ;  one  that  might  be  said  to  be  sanctified  from  the 
womb,  for  he  was  early  under  serious  impressions  ;  so  that  himself  said, 
he  knew  not  the  lime  when  he  was  unconverted." 

He  was  a  most  sincere,  godly,  and  humble  man ;  had  a  large  soul, 
flaming  zeal,  and  was  remarkably  successful  in  his  ministry. 

He  had  great  courage,  as  may  be  seen  at  his  first  settlement  at  Cliff, 
in  Kent.  He  never  feared  the  utmost  malice  of  any  of  his  enemies  ; 
and  nothing  that  he  met  with  ever  abated  his  cheerfulness.  He  had 
uninterrupted  peace  in  his  soul,  and  assurance  of  God's  favour  for 
thirty  years  before  his  death ;  though  for  some  time  before  that  he  had 
passed  through  severe  mental  exercises. 

In  his  last  illness  he  was  full  of  comfort,  and  could  say,  "  Blessed  be 
God  !  I  have  been  faithful  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  for  more  than 
fifty-jive  years."  Some  of  his  last  words  were  the  following.  Just 
before  his  departure  he  often  said,  "  Come,  my  dearest  Jesus !  the 
nearer  the  more  precious,  the  more  welcome."  Another  time  his  joy 
was  so  great,  that  in  an  ecstacy  he  cried  out,  "  I  cannot  contain  it ! 
What  manner  of  love  is  this  to  a  poor  worm !  I  cannot  express  the 
thousandth  part  of  what  praise  is  due  to  thee !  It  is  but  little  I  can  give 
thee  :  but,  Lord,  help  me  to  give  thee  my  all !  I  will  die  praising  thee, 
and  rejoice  that  others  can  praise  thee  better.  I  shall  be  satisfied  with 
thy  likeness.  Satisfied  !  Satisfied !  O  my  dearest  Jesus !  I  come !" 

See  the  funeral  sermon  preached  for  him  by  Dr.  Williams. 

During  seventeen  weeks'  pain,  though  he  had  before  enjoyed  an  un- 


SAMLKI.    ANHESLBY,    LL.   D.  161 

interrupted  course  of  health,  he  never  discovered  the  least  degree  of 
impatience  ;  and  quietly  resigned  his  soul  to  God,  Dec.  31,  1696,  aged 
77  years. 

Dr.  Annesley's  figure  was  fine ;  his  countenance  dignified,  highly 
expressive,  and  amiable.  His  constitution,  naturally  strong  and  robust, 
was  capable  of  any  kind  of  fatigue.  He  was  seldom  indisposed  ;  and 
could  endure  the  coldest  weather  without  hat,  gloves,  or  fire.  For 
many  years  he  scarcely  ever  drank  any  thing  but  water ;  and  even  to 
his  last  sickness  his  sight  continued  so  strong  that  he  could  read  the 
smallest  print  without  spectacles.  His  piety,  diligence,  and  zeal, 
caused  him  to  be  highly  esteemed,  not  only  by  the  Dissenters,  but  by 
all  who  knew  him. 

A  curious  anecdote  is  entered  by  his  grandson,  Mr.  J.  Wesley,  in 
his  Journal : — "  Monday,  Feb.  6,  1769,  I  spent  an  hour  with  a  vene- 
rable woman,  nearly  ninety  years  of  age,  who  retains  her  health,  her 
senses,  her  understanding,  and  even  her  memory  to  a  good  degree.  In 
the  last  century  she  belonged  to  my  grandfather  Annesley's  congrega- 
tion, at  whose  house  her  father  and  she  used  to  dine  every  Thursday ; 
and  whom  she  remembers  to  have  seen  frequently,  in  his  study  at  the 
top  of  the  house,  with  his  window  open,  and  without  any  fire  winter  or 
summer.  He  lived  seventy-seven  years ;  and  would  probably  have 
lived  longer  had  he  not  begun  water  drinking  at  seventy." 

His  last  will  and  testament  is  too  singular  to  be  omitted. 

"  In  the  name  of  God  !  Amen. 

"  I,  Doctor  Samuel  Annesley,  of  the  Liberty  of  Norton  Falgate,  in 
the  county  of  Middlesex,  an  unworthy  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  being, 
through  mercy,  in  health  of  body  and  mind,  do  make  this  my  last  will 
and  testament,  concerning  my  earthly  pittance. 

"  For  my  soul,  I  dare  humbly  say,  it  is  through  grace  devoted  unto 
God  (otherwise  than  by  legacy)  when  it  may  live  here  no  longer.  I 
do  believe  that  my  body,  after  its  sleeping  awhile  in  Jesus,  shall  be 
reunited  *o  my  soul,  that  they  may  both  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord. 

'*  Of  what  I  shall  leave  behind  me,  I  make  this  short  disposal, — 

"  My  just  debts  being  paid,  I  give  to  each  of  my  children,  one  shilling, 
and  all  the  rest  to  be  equally  divided  between  my  son  Benjamin  Jlnnes- 
ley,  my  daughter  Judith  Jlnnesley,  and  my  daughter  Ann  Jlnnesley, 
whom  I  make  my  executors  of  this  my  last  will  and  testament ;  revok- 
ing all  former,  and  confirming  this  with  my  hand  and  seal  this  29th  of 
March,  1693. 

«'  SAMUEL  ANNESI.EY." 
.  Daw.;  i.'.  .  \;.»n  n  ,••}•-•  ',*  i.  •".    . 

Among  his  works,  which  are  neither  numerous  nor  large  are — 1.  A 
Funeral  Sermon  for  the  Rev.  W.  Whitaker ; — 2.  A  Funeral  Sermon  on 
the  Death  of  the  Rev.  T.  Brand,  with  an  Account  of  his  Life ; — 3.  A  Fast 
Sermon  before  the  House  of  Commons,  1648; — 4.  Two  Sermons  at 
St.  Paul's  on  Communion  with  God; — 5.  A  Sermon  at  Lawrence 
Jury,  to  the  Gentlemen  of  Wilts  ; — 6.  Five  Sermons  in  the  Morning 
Exercises; — 7.  He  edited  four  of  the  volumes  of  those  Exercises,  to 
each  of  which  he  wrote  a  Preface.  His  grandson,  Mr.  John  Wesley, 
has  inserted  a  Sermon  in  volume  xxxvi,  of  the  Christian  Library,  o» 

21 


162  OF    MR.    VTESLEV'S    ANCESTORS. 

1  Tim.  v,  22,  "  How  must  we  reprove,  that  we  may  not  partake  of  other 
men's  sins  1"  which  he  attributes  to  Dr.  Annesley :  but  this  is  a  mis- 
take, as  it  appears  the  Sermon  in  question  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Kit- 
chen, of  St.  Mary,  Abchurch.  And  in  volume  xxxviii,  he  attributes  two 
others  to  him, — 1.  On  Universal  Conscientiousness,  Acts  xxiv,  16,  And 
herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  &c. — 2.  On  "  how  Ministers  or  Christian 
Friends  may  apply  themselves  to  sick  persons  for  their  good,"  &c,  Job 
xxxiii,  23,  24,  Jf  there  be  a  messenger  with  him,  &c.  But  both  these 
were  written  by  Mr.  Matthew  Pool,  author  of  the  Synopsis  Criticorum. 
But  those  in  volume  xliv, — 1.  On  "  God's  Sovereignty  our  Support  in 
all  worldly  Distractions,"  Psalm  xcvii,  1,  2,  The  Lord  reigneth,  let 
the  earth  rejoice,  &c. — 2.  "  The  Hinderances  and  Helps  to  a  Good 
Memory  in  Spiritual  Things,"  1  Cor.  xv,  2,  By  which  also  ye  are 
saved,  if  ye  keep  in  memory,  &c,  were  written  by  Dr.  Annesley. — See 
Palmer's  Nonconformists'  J\Iemorial,  vol.  i,  p.  127. 

The  meeting  house  in  which  Dr.  Annesley  preached  was  in  Little 
St.  Helen's,  Bishopsgate-street,  where  Mr.  Woodhouse  succeeded  him. 
It  was  in  this  place  that  the  first  public  ordination  service  among  the 
Dissenters  was  performed.  Dr.  Calamy  was  one  of  the  ministers  then 
ordained. 

Dr.  Anncsley  was  a  lively  and  emphatic  writer  ;  and  must  have  been 
a  very  useful  preacher.  The  following  extracts,  taken  at  random  from 
his  sermon  On  a  Good  Memory  in  Spiritual  Things,  will  prove  this  : — 

*'  Violent  passions  spoil  the  memory  ;  such  as  anger,  grief,  love,  fear. 
Passions  we  must  have  :  but  constitution  and  education  allay  them  in 
some ;  reason  moderates  them  in  others ;  and  grace  regulates  them  in 
all.  Where  these  bridles  are  wanting,  they  shake  all  the  faculties  as 
an  earthquake  doth  a  country.  For  example,  anger,  when  it  rages, 
manifestly  inflames  the  blood,  and  consequently  the  spirits,  and  melts 
off  the  impression  in  the  brain  just  as  the  fire  melts  the  wax  and  the 
impressions  that  were  fixed  upon  it. 

"  A  multitude  of  undigested  notions  hurt  the  memory.  If  a  man  have 
a  stock  of  methodical  and  digested  knowledge,  it  is  admirable  how  much 
the  memory  will  contain  ;  as  you  know  how  many  images  may  be  dis- 
cerned at  once  in  a  glass.  But  when  these  notions  are  heaped  inco- 
herently in  the  memory,  without  order  or  dependence,  they  confound 
and  overthrow  the  memory.  Thus  many  hear  or  read  much,  too  much 
perhaps  for  their  capacities  :  they  have  not  stowage  for  it;  and  so  they  are 
ever  learning,  and  never  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Therefore 
look  that  you  understand  and  digest  things  by  meditation ;  run  not  on 
too  fast :  he  that  rides  post  can  never  draw  maps  of  the  country. 

"  Custom,  or  using  your  memories,  is  an  excellent  way  of  improving 
them.  Thus  many  wise  persons  charge  their  memories  at  the  present, 
and  thereby  strengthen  them,  and  then  commit  what  they  have  remem- 
bered to  writing,  when  they  come  home,  that  no  time  may  wear  it 
away.  We  say,  use  legs,  and  liave  legs ;  and  so  use  the  memory,  and 
have  a  memory. 

"  If  you  oblige  your  children  and  your  servants  to  bring  you  away  an 
account  of  a  sermon,  you  will  see  that  use  and  custom  will  make  it  easy. 
I  have  seen  an  old  man's  girdle,  who  could  not  read  a  word,  yet  by  the 


SAMUEL  ANNESLEY,  JUN.  163 

only  help  of  the  girdle  which  he  wore,  and  which  was  hung  about  with 
some  knotted  points,  he  could  bring  home  every  particular  of  a  sermon. 

"  Due  estimation  is  a  help  to  the  memory ;  the  more  we  lore  and 
admire  any  thing,  the  better  we  remember  it.  This  is  the  reason  given 
of  children  remembering  things  so  well,  because  they  admire  every 
thing  as  being  new  to  them.  And  of  old  people  the  saying  is  known, 
that  they  remember  all  such  things  as  they  care  for :  for  when  we.  esteem 
any  thing,  the  affections  work  upon  the  spirits,  which  are  the  instruments 
of  the  memory,  and  so  seal  things  upon  it.  Why  is  it  that  a  woman 
cannot  forget  her  sucking  child?  Because  she  doth  vehemently  love  it, 
and  the  like  affection  in  us  to  good  things  would  keep  us  from  forget- 
ting them." 

To  this  I  shall  add  the  first  paragi-aph  of  his  sermon  on  God's  sove- 
reignty, from  Psalm  xcvii,  1,  2,  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth 
rejoice,  &c. 

"  The  state  of  affairs  is  often  so  involved  and  confused,  that  we  need 
not  wonder  if  we  see  men  of  wisdom  greatly  perplexed  in  their  spirits, 
and  almost  sunk  into  discouragement.  The  best  of  men,  whose  hearts 
are  most  fortified  with  grace,  would  be  of  all  others  most  subject  to 
discomposure,  were  it  not  that  they  feel  peace  and  comfort  flowing  into 
them  from  the  remembrance  and  sweet  consideration  of  a  God  above. 
What  good  man  could  have  any  tolerable  enjoyment  of  himself,  or  pos- 
sess his  soul  in  patience,  while  he  observes  the  irregular  motions  of  things 
below;  the  restlessness,  tumblings,  and  tossings  of  the  world  ;  desirable 
comforts  and  delights  blasted  in  a  moment;  afflictions  and  troubles 
breaking  in  with  a  sudden  surprise;  order  quite  subverted  ;  laws  violated, 
and  the  edge  of  them  turned  against  those  that  are  faithful  and  peace- 
able in  the  land  ;  and  all  things  indeed  turned  upside  down,  wickedness 
rampant,  and  religion  oppressed  !  These  things  would  soon  break  his 
heart,  did  he  not  see  Him  who  is  invisible,  and  firmly  believe  a  wheel 
within  a  wheel ;  an  unseen  hand  which  steadily  and  prudently  guides 
and  directs  all  things,  keeping  up  a  beautiful  order,  where  reason  can 
discern  nothing  but  confusion." 


SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  DR.  ANNESLEY'S  CHILDREN. 

Dr.  Annesley  had  several  children  :  no  less  than  twenty-five  !  Dr. 
Menton  baptizing  one  of  them,  and  being  asked  how  many  children 
Dr.  Annesley  had  ?  He  answered,  he  "  believed  it  was  two  dozen  or 
a  quarter  of  a  hundred."  The  reckoning  children  by  dozens  is  a  sin- 
gular circumstance, — an  honour  to  which  few  persons  ever  arrive.  But 
of  this  numerous  family,  I  have  met  with  the  names  of  Samuel,  Benja- 
min, Judith,  Sarah,  Elizabeth,  and  Susanna  only. 

SAMUEL  ANNESLEY,  JUN. 

Samuel  went  abroad  in  the  service  of  the  East  India  Company,  He 
there  accumulated  a  considerable  fortune,  and  made  frequent  remit- 
tances to  his  family  at  homfc.  He  had  borne  strong  testimony  against 
the  mismanagement  and  peculations  of  certain  persona  in  the  Com- 


164  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

pany's  service,  which  probably  created  him  mortal  enemies.  Intending 
to  return  home,  he  wrote  to  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  to 
purchase  for  him  an  estate  of  200/.  or  300/.  per  annum  somewhere  be- 
tween London  and  Oxford.  But  it  seems  he  suddenly  disappeared,  and 
no  account  was  ever  received  either  of  his  person  or  property  !  The  very 
time  of  his  coming  home,  and  the  ship  by  which  he  was  to  come,  were 
announced ;  and  his  sister  Mrs.  Susanna  Wesley  came  to  London, 
expecting  to  meet  him  :  but  no  brother  appeared  when  the  ship  arrived  ! 
And  all  the  information  that  was  ever  received  was  to  this  effect : — 
That  he  had  gone  up  into  the  country,  and  was  never  heard  of  more  ! 
(When  the  noises  were  heard  in  the  parsonage  house  at  Epworth,  Mrs. 
Wesley  supposed  they  betokened  the  death  of  her  brother  in  India  :  but 
it  is  certain  that  he  was  alive  several  years  after  those  noises  ceased  at 
Epworth.)  There  is  most  certainly  a  mystery  in  this  transaction,  which 
it  is  possible  a  future  day  may  explain.  Mr.  John  Wesley  used  to  say 
to  his  nephews, — "  You  are  heirs  to  a  large  property  in  India,  if  you 
can  find  it  out ;  for  my  uncle  is  said  to  have  been  very  prosperous." 

I  possess  an  original  letter  of  this  gentleman  to  his  brother-in-law, 
the  rector  of  Epworth  ;  which  I  shall  here  faithfully  transcribe,  and  add 
a  fac  simile  of  his  signature  among  those  of  the  W'esleyan  family, 
hoping  that  even  this  may  be  a  means  of  casting  some  light  on  this 
dark  affair.  The  letter  refers  to  transactions  then  in  India,  which  those 
conversant  with  India  affairs  may  easily  comprehend. 

^BROTHER  WESLEY, — Via  Grand  Caire,  und  cover  of  Monsr.  Pe- 
lavoine,  the  Directore  here  for  the  French  Company,  (as  in  Feb.  last) 
I  wrote  you  ;  which  I  can't  copy,  but  extract. 

"  I  have  been  told  'twas  the  practice  of  Sir  N.  Waite  to  bribe  some 
of  the  committee,  thereby  stifling  all  complaints  against  him.  If  you 
suspect  that,  declare  to  the  Company  themselves  what  I  have  wrote, 
being  of  such  vast  importance  at  their  convention  in  April  to  choose  new 
directors.  Let  them  keep  my  salary,  and  the  wreck's  money  (some 
thousands  of  pounds)  till  I  prove  what  I  write  is  true,  or  a  great  part  of 
it ;  if  they  will  give  me,  as  proposed,  the  power  to  do  it.  If  you  can 
get  2s.  9d.  or  3*.  the  rupee  to  be  received  in  England,  or  interest  of  5 
per  cent,  (as  usual  in  bills  drawn  here  on  the  Company)  from  the  time  I 
pay  it,  to  payment  to  you  and  Mr.  Eaton,  I  will  give  from  10  to 
15,000  rupees  to  their  order  in  Suratt ;  if  they'l  let  me  invest  it  for  'em 
in  diamonds  I  will  faithfully  serve  'em. — Thus  Sir  S.  Evance  and  the 
Jew  Alvaro  de  Costa  did  to  Captain  Owen  for  his  son's  money. 

"  I  desired  you.  to  let  out  to  commanders,  &c,  responsible  persons, 
bound  hither,  500/.  on  each  ship,  and  (if  you  can)  to  be  invested  by  me, 
advising  overland  how  much  ;  as  in  what  goods.  To  procure  what 
consignment  you  can  to  me,  that  I  may  have  the  laying  out  of  most  or 
part,  if  not  all  money  brought  hither  ;  which  I  think  I  can  do  cheaper 
and  better  than  any  one  on  the  place.  I  write  not  so  out  of  vanity  or 
opinativeness. 

"  Sir  S.  Evance  has  a  large  packet  enclosing  Mr.  Pennyng's  account 
by  the  fleet,  which  pray  desire  of  Sir  Ceasar  Child.  If  I  am  in  the  Com- 
pany's service,  pray  desire  Sir  Ceasar  Child  to  let  me,  alone,  have  the 


SAMUEL   AXNESLET,  JLN.  6*  165 

adjustment  of  his  accounts  with  the  Parracks,  provided  they  are  not  to 
this  time  finisht.  Mr.  Aislabie  is  most  unaccountably  slow,  remiss,  and 
negligent  of  such  an  advantage,  so  deserves  to  have  it  slip  his  hands,  as 
I  have  wrote  him,  I  believe  it  wil.  Beside,  he  never  did,  nor  can  do 
any  thing  to  conclude  it ;  it  has  and  will  lye  upon  me. 

44  If  a  good  purchase  offers  between  London  and  Oxford  of  2  to  300/. 
a  year,  I  desire  you  to  secure  it  for  me  against  I  come  home,  if  God 
pleases :  I  would  have  it  a  healthy  air,  near  a  market  town  and  river  ; 
somewhat  woody  ;  no  religious  lands.  I  will  take  care  to  send  effects 
or  bils  to  pay  for  it. 

"  Mr.  Wyche's  broker  told  me  it  was  concerted  between  his  master 
and  Rustum  not  to  take  my  Nunsasee  and  Broach  goods,  that  dispos- 
ing of  them  other  ways,  I  might  lose  and  meddle  no  more  to  interrupt 
'em  in  his  roguerys.  A  faithful  servant  of  the  Company.  He  tels  me 
he  has  received  a  commission  to  be  cherif  broker,  gave  2600  rupees  to 
the  governor  to  let  Mr.  Wyche  go  to  Bombay  to  shew  himself  obedi- 
ent to  the  Company's  orders,  but  will  speedily  return  with  a  general 
letter  that  'tis  necessary  to  do  so.  He  says  the  genl.  is  for  paying  the 
old  Company's  debts,  and  Mr.  Wyche  has  a  mind  to  pay  'em  here,  both 
desiring  to  squeeze  something  from  the  creditors,  and  to  ingratiate 
themselves  with  the  Company  to  make  them  take  single  (not  compound) 
interest.  But  that  won't  do  ;  for  then  the  Company  must  take  single 
interest  on  their  demands  on  the  brokers,  which  wil  be  a  great  loss. 
In  the  interim,  who  must  pay  the  Company  the  interest  of  their  money 
that  lyes  dead, — a  vast  sum  when  it  shall  be  made  up  !  They  owe  me 
about  thirty-Jive  hundred  pounds,  beside  my  salary  and  the  wreck's 
money  :  but  I  cannot  get  a  groat  of  it  til  brought  about  said  dishonour- 
able intentions  :  therefore,  pray  address  the  court  of  directors  for  their 
order  to  pay  off  my  accounts.  I  have  saved  the  old  Company  36,200 
rupees  in  Viltul  Parrak's  demands  on  'em,  on  which  5  per  cent  is  due 
to  me :  but  I  can't  get  it  paid  :  the  reason  is  plain,  that  getting  nothing 
for  my  trouble,  I  may  leave  off.  I  was  nine  months  contending  with 
him.  Pray  get  an  order  for  it.  Said  broker  says  the  English  credit  in 
these  parts  daily  declines  ;  and  his  master  by  little  and  little  wil  venture 
(as  the  Dutch)  take  a  part  of  al  goods  he  buys  or  sels  for  the  Company, 
but  in  a  private  manner.  As,  suppose  he  sels  copper  at  14  rupees  per 
md.  he'l  credit  'em  perhaps  13^,  and  so  in  other  merchandise.  Already, 
(as  before  hinted)  they  have  no  regard  to  the  Company's  fraights  ;  pro- 
vided the  commanders  will  let  'em  buy  their  goods,  for  which  they  have 
5  per  cent,  commission,  they  may  as  usual  (as  among  the  Dutch) 
bring  or  carry  what  they  please,  fraight  free. 

44 1  could  fil  more  than  a  quire  of  paper  with  these  matters  :  but  'twil 
Tie  in  vain,  if  what  I  have  wrote  be  not  considered.  I  hinted  to  you, 
Mr.  Samuel  Sheppard  was  displeased  with  Mr.  Proby  for  writing  him 
of  the  great  cheat  in  sale  of  the  English  broadcloth  ;  concerning  which 
Mr.  Proby  may  be  subpoana'd  in,  and  the  Company's  registry  may  be  ex- 
amin'd.  Some  matters  may  be  erroneously  inform'd,  but  I  am  satisfied 
as  to  the  main  'tis  true.  I  have  heard  captn.  Beawes  gave  500  to  com- 
mand the  Albermarle  ;  and  scarce  any  thing  is  done  without  money, 
#nd  every  thing  almost  with  it. 


166  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"  About  Abdul  Guffere's  dispute  with  the  Company,  (who  seized 
their  goods  by  a  former  governor,  for  those  the  pirates  plundered  from 
him,  and  restored  'em  to  the  genl.)  is  according  to  the  best  account  (as 
yet  I  have  got)  as  follows.  Ibe  sent  to  Sellimongee  (a  Moor,  one  of 
the  greatest  merchants  in  town)  to  mediate  with  Mr.  Wyche's  broker, 
between  the  genl  (who  had  seized  his  ships  for  payment)  and  him.  He 
at  first  offered  to  pay  450,000  rupees,  and  Sellimongee  sent  Mr.  Wyche 
word  he'd  bring  it  to  rupees  500,000  :  but  he  would  not  hearken  to  him, 
nor  Rustum  tell  him  or  the  genl  of  it,  (as  he  sent  me  word)  he'l  at  any 
time  tel  him  to  his  face.  But  they  applyed  themselves  to  the  governor, 
gave  him  of  it,  as  they  pretend,  120,000  rupees,  the  fourth  of  480,000, 
Rustum  says,  Abdul  Guffere  gave,  (tho'  he  affirms  he  gave  482,000) 
and  63,950  to  the  officers,  which  in  the  end  I  presume  will  be  proved 
he,  &c,  shared  among  'em  ;  so  that  for  the  500,000  rupees,  the  Com- 
pany might  have  had  instantly  paid  down,  they  have  by  that  villain,  and 
&c's,  means  reed  but  296,950,  with  large  charges  beside.  I  have  often 
wrote  the  genl  for  the  account,  that  there  is  a  great  cheat  iri't,  but 
can  get  no  answer.  Pray  does  he  not  give  sufficient  grounds  to  suspect 
he  has  had  a  part  of  it  1  I  have  a  hundred  times,  to  no  purpose,  desired 
the  same  of  Mr.  Wyche. 

"  SAM.  ANNESLEY." 
Suratt,  March  13,  1712-3. 

Endorsed.  "  Samuel  Annesley,  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley,  March 
13,  1712-3." 

In  the  hands  of  a  good  investigator,  this  letter  might  lead  to  some 
discovery  relative  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Annesley  ;  and  where  his  property 
has  been  left,  and  who  has  possessed  it.  That  there  were  nefarious 
transactions  in  the  management  of  the  Company's  concerns  at  that  time 
the  above  letter  sufficiently  states ;  and  that  Mr.  Annesley's  honesty 
might  have  led  to  his  ruin  is  a  possible  case.  That  he  should  disappear, 
and  never  more  be  heard  of,  and  that  his  property  should  all  have  been 
lost,  are  mysteries  which  probably  at  this  distance  of  time  cannot 
entirely  be  cleared  up  :  but  some  discovery  may  yet  be  made. 

From  the  preceding  letter  we  find  that  Mr.  Annesley  wished  to 
employ  his  brother-in-law,  the  rector  of  Epworth,  to  transact  some 
business  in  his  behalf  with  the  East  India  Company  ;  and  Mr.  Wesley 
appears  to  have  undertaken  the  office :  but  owing  to  his  natural  easiness, 
and  too  great  confidence  in  the  promises  of  men,  the  business  was 
neglected,  and  had  no  favourable  issue ;  at  which  Mr.  Annesley  was 
greatly  offended  ;  transferred  the  agency  into  another  hand ;  and  wrote 
a  severe  letter  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Wesley,  in  which  he  most  liberally 
blamed  the  conduct  of  his  brother-in-law.  A  part  only  of  Mrs. 
Wesley's  answer  to  her  angry  brother  is  preserved.  This  fragment, 
which,  from  the  emendations  in  various  places,  appears  to  be  the  rough 
copy  of  her  letter,  is  worthy  of  insertion ;  as  it  shows  her  good  sense, 
great  modesty,  and  faithful  attachment  to  her  husband.  Having  stated 
that  in  all  transactions  her  husband  had  acted  with  a  clear  conscience, 
both  before  God  and  man,  she  proceeds  to  notice  the  blame  cast  upon 
him  by  her  brother,  and  adds  : — 


SAMUEL   ANNE8LEY,   JUIf. 


167 


"  These  things  are  unkind,  very  unkind.  Add  not  misery  to  afflic- 
tion : — if  you  will  not  reach  out  a  friendly  hand  to  support,  yet  I  beseech 
you  forbear  to  throw  water  on  a  people  already  sinking. 

"But  I  shall  go  on  with  your  letter  to  me.  You  proceed, 4  When  I 
come  home' — (0,  would  to  God  that  might  ever  be!) — 'should  any  of 
your  daughters  want  me,' — (as  I  think  they  will  not) — '/  shall  do  as 
God  enables  me ." — I  must  answer  this  with  a  sigh  from  the  bottom  of 
my  heart.  Sir,  you  know  the  proverb,  '  While  the  grass  grows,  the 
steed  starves.' 

"That  passage  relating  to  Ansley,  I  have  formerly  replied  to; 
therefore  I'll  pass  it  over,  together  with  some  hints  I  am  not  willing  to 
understand. 

"  '  My  brother  has  one  invincible  obstacle  to  my  business,  his  distance 
from  London.' — Sir,  you  may  please  to  remember,  I  put  you  in  mind 
of  this  long  since. — '  Another  hinderance,  I  think  he  is  too  zealous  for 
the  party  he  fancies  in  the  right ;  and  has  unluckily  to  do  with  the 
opposite  faction.' — Whether  those  you  employ  are  factious  or  no,  I'll 
not  determine ;  but  very  sure  I  am,  Mr.  Wesley  is  not  so  ;  he  is  zealous 
in  a  good  cause,  as  every  one  ought  to  be  ;  but  the  farthest  from  being 
a  party  man  of  any  man  in  the  world. — '  Another  remura  is,  these 
matters  are  out  of  his  way.' — That  is  a  remora  indeed,  and  ought  to 
have  been  considered  on  both  sides  before  he  entered  on  your  business: 
for  I  am  verily  persuaded  that  that,  and  that  alone,  has  been  the  cause 
of  any  mistakes  or  inadvertency  he  has  been  guilty  of;  and  the  true 
reason  why  God  has  not  blessed  him  with  desired  success. — *  He  is 
apt  to  rest  upon  deceitful  promises.' — Would  to  Heaven  that  neither  he, 
nor  1,  nor  any  of  our  children,  had  ever  trusted  to  deceitful  promises. 
But  it  is  a  right  hand  error,  and  I  hope  God  will  forgive  us  all. — '  He 
wants  Mr.  Eaton's  thrift' — This  I  can  readily  believe. — '  He  is  not  Jit 
for  worldly  business' — This  I  likewise  assent  to  ;  and  must  own  I  was 
mistaken  when  I  did  think  him  fit  for  it:  my  own  experience  hath 
since  convinced  me  that  he  is  one  of  those  whom  our  Saviour  saith  is 
not  so  wise  in  their  generation  as  the  children  of  this  world.  And  did  I 
not  know  that  almighty  Wisdom  hath  views  and  ends  in  fixing  the 
bounds  of  our  habitation,  which  are  out  of  our  ken,  I  should  think  it  a 
thousand  pities  that  a  man  of  his  brightness,  and  rare  endowments  of 
learning  and  useful  knowledge  in  relation  to  the  Church  of  God,  should 
be  confined  to  an  obscure  corner  of  the  country,  where  his  talents  are 
buried ;  and  he,  determined  to  a  way  of  life  for  which  he  is  not  so  well 
qualified  as  I  could  wish ;  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  I  behold  in  my 
eldest  son  an  aversion  from  accepting  a  small  country  cure ;  since, 
blessed  be  God!  he  has  a  fair  reputation  for  learning  and  piety,  preaches 
well,  and  is  capable  of  doing  more  good  where  he  is.  You  conclude, — 
*  My  wife  will  make  my  cousin  Emily.' — It  was  a  small  and  insignificant 
present,  to  my  sister,  indeed  :  but,  poor  girl,  it  was  her  whole  estate  ; 
and  if  it  had  been  received  as  kindly  as  it  was  meant,  she  would  have 
been  highly  pleased. 

"  I  shall  not  detain  you  any  longer,  not  so  much  as  to  apologize  for 
the  tedious  length  of  this  letter. 

"  I  should  be  glad  if  my  service  could  be  made  acceptable  to  my 


168  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

sister ;  to  whom,  with  yourself,  the  children  tender  their  humblest  duty. 
We  all  join  in  wishing  you  a  happy  new  year,  and  very  many  of  them. 
I  am  your  obliged  and  most  obedient  servant  and  sister, 

"  SUSANNA  WESLEY." 
Epworth,  Jan.  20,  1721-2. 
My  birth  day. 

From  the  above  letter  we  find  that  Mr.  Samuel  Annesley  was  alive 
at  Surat  in  1722,  seven  years  after  the  noises  had  ceased  at  the  par- 
sonage house  at  Ep worth;  which  Mrs.  Wesley  had  supposed  portended 
his  death.  In  the  year  1724  it  was  reported  that  Mr.  Annesley  was 
coming  home  in  one  of  the  Company's  ships.  Mrs.  Wesley,  hearing 
the  news,  came  up  from  Epworth  to  London,  to  meet  him :  but  the 
report  was  incorrect.  This  is  the  last  mention  I  h'nd  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Annesley  in  any  of  the  family  papers  which  have  come  under  my  notice. 
Nor  is  there  any  certainty  when  he  died.  We  know  he  was  alive  in 
1712,  and  possibly  in  1720  or  1721.  Mrs.  Wesley's  letter  to  him  is 
dated  Jan.  20,  1722  ;  his,  to  which  it  is  an  answer,  was  most  probably 
written  in  1720.  It  is  likely  that  his  wife  died  before  him,  and  that 
there  were  no  children:  hence  the  Wesley  family  always  supposed 
they  were  his  heirs. 

Of  BENJAMIN  ANNESLEY  I  have  not  been  able  to  collect  any  par- 
ticulars. He  was  supposed  by  the  remains  of  the  Wesley  family  to 
have  been  the  person  who  went  to  the  East  Indies  :  but  the  preceding 
letter  shows  it  was  Samuel. 

Of  Miss  SARAH  ANNESLEY  I  find  nothing  on  record. 

Of  Miss  JUDITH  there  is  a  painting  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Charles 
Wesley,  probably  painted  by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  where  she  is  represented 
as  a  very  beautiful  woman.  A  gentleman  of  splendid  fortune  paid  his 
addresses  to  her;  and  the  attachment  was  mutual:  but  when  she 
perceived  that  he  was  addicted  to  much  wine,  she  utterly  refused  to 
marry  him,  and  died  single. 

Of  Miss  Judith  ANNESLEY,  Mr.  Dunton,  her  brother-in-law,  gives 
the  following  character : — "  She  is  a  virgin  of  eminent  piety.  Good 
books  (above  all,  the  Book  of  books,)  are  her  sweetest  entertainment; 
and  she  finds  more  comfort  there  than  others  do  in  their  wardrobe.  In 
a  word,  she  keeps  a  constant  watch  over  the  frame  of  her  soul  and  the 
course  of  her  actions  by  daily  and  strict  examination  of  both." 

Of  Miss  ANN  ANNESLEY,  Mr.  Dunton,  her  brother-in-law,  gives  the 
following  character : — "  To  drop  her  pious  character  would  be  ungrate- 
ful. She  is  a  wit  for  certain ;  and  however  time  may  have  dealt  by 
her,  art  never  feigned,  nor  nature  formed,  a  finer  woman." 

We  have  already  seen  that  Miss  ELIZABETH  ANNESLEY  was  married 
to  Mr.  John  Dunton,  the  eccentric  bookseller.  She  appears  to  have 
been  very  eminent,  both  for  piety  and  good  sense.  Dunton  has  shown 
his  attachment  to  her  by  the  account  he  published  of  her  death,  and 
some  extracts  which  he  gives  from  her  papers  found  after  her  death. 


Dft.   ANKESLEf's   CHILDREN.  169 

That  Elizabeth  Dunton  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  Annesley 
was  not  less  her  honour  than  her  happiness ;  and  of  this  care  of  Provi- 
dence she  discovers  in  her  private  papers  a  very  grateful  sense. 

Religion  had  made  early  impressions  on  her  mind.  The  new  life 
had  sprung  up  by  such-  insensible  degrees,  that,  like  her  noble  and 
reverend  father,  she  knew  not  the  time  of  her  being  turned  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  just. 

Her  Bible  was  the  great  companion  and  pleasure  of  her  life ;  and 
she  was  so  well  acquainted  with  it  that  no  portion  of  it  could  be 
mentioned  which  she  could  not  refer  to  the  book,  chapter,  and  verse, 
in  which  it  might  be  found. 

She  had  an  amiable  disposition,  and  a  heart  full  of  charity  to  all  who 
differed  from  her  in  their  religious  opinions.  She  was  a  considerable 
proficient  even  in  polemical  divinity,  and  had  acquainted  herself  well 
with  the  controversy  on  original  sin,  and  the  effects  of  it  on  the  faculties 
of  the  soul :  on  free-will,  foreknowledge,  grace,  the  revealed  and  secret 
will  of  God,  &c.  Upon  this  last  subject  she  writes, — "  I  will  obey 
God's  revealed  will,  and  adore  his  secret  will ;  rest  upon  his  promises, 
and  cast  myself  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  attentive  to  my  present  duty.  The 
belief  of  God's  foreknowledge,  or  his  decreeing  whatsoever  comes  to 
pass,  should  not  hinder  me  from  duty,  but  render  me  diligent  in  it.  I 
ought  to  do  more  for  my  soul  than  my  body  ;  and  respecting  the  latter, 
though  I  know  not  what  food  may  nourish  it,  or  what  medicines  relieve, 
I  will  not  neglect  the  means." 

She  owned  that  repentance  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  that  sin  cannot 
be  pardoned  but  through  the  blood,  the  merits,  and  intercession  of 
Christ  Jesus  ;  and  that  no  spiritual  act  can  be  performed  without  divine 
assistance. 

She  had  kept  a  diary  for  twenty  years,  in  which  the  gracious  state  of 
her  mind  was  particularly  pointed  out  :  but  so  far  was  she  from  vain 
glory,  that  in  her  last  illness  she  entreated  her  husband  to  burn  those 
large  collections  ;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  he  obtained  her  permission, 
for  Mr.  Rogers,  who  preached  her  funeral  sermon,  to  extract  those 
passages  which  he  has  inserted  in  the  discourse  intituled,  "  The  cha- 
racter of  a  good  woman,  preached  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Dunton."  Her  reflections  on  a  bed  of  sickness  her  husband  published 
in  the  Post  Angel,  for  Feb.  1701,  which  1  have  not  seen. 

She  was  a  great  lover  of  solitude,  because  it  gave  her  the  oppor- 
tunity of  conversing  with  God  and  her  own  heart.  But  this  did  not 
extend  to  the  public  means  of  grace,  nor  to  public  duties*  Public  wor- 
ship, sermons,  Sabbaths,  and  sacraments,  were  her  refreshments  on  her 
way  to  glory.  On  one  of  these  occasions  she  wrote, — "  O  how  should 
the  thought  of  free  unmerited  grace  fill  us  with  love  to  God !  I  am 
filled  with  joy  inexpressible,  and  with  hope  full  of  glory!  What  amaz- 
ing love,  that  God  should  give  his  Son  to  die  for  sinners  !  That  he 
should  become  man,  and  not  have  inhere  to  lay  his  head,  when  he  came 
to  enrich  the  world !  Blessed  God  !  at  this  sacrament  I  cannot  take  a 
denial  of  thy  presence  :  I  come  to  meet  my  God ;  I  cannot  be  com- 
forted without  him." 

Her  husband  observes, — "  Her  conjugal  affection  was  a&  remarka- 

22 


170  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

ble  as  the  rest  of  her  character.  Her  happiness  seemed  wrapped  up 
in  mine  ;  our  interest  and  our  inclinations  were  the  same.  When 
affairs  were  perplexing,  she  never  discovered  uneasiness ;  she  made 
use  of  means,  and  left  the  issue  to  Providence.  When  I  happened  to 
be  ill,  she  was  much  concerned  ;  and  would  impair  her  own  health 
rather  than  permit  any  one  else  to  wait  on  me.  I  never  went  home, 
and  found  her  out  of  temper.  But  Heaven  had  a  greater  interest  in  her 
than  I  could  have  :  she  was  my  better  half ;  but  I  knew  my  property 
in  her  was  not  absolute. 

"  In  her  last  illness,  which  continued  seven  months,  she  never  uttered 
one  repining  word;  and  was  always  willing  to  depart  and  to  be  with  God. 
Through  the  whole  of  her  sickness  she  declared  she  had  no  doubt 
upon  her  mind  as  to  her  eternal  happiness.  When  near  death  she  said 
to  one  who  stood  by, '  Heaven  will  make  amends  for  all.  In  a  short 
time  I  shall  be  happy.  I  have  good  ground  to  hope  that  when  I  die,  I 
shall  through  Christ,  be  blessed,  for  I  dedicated  my  youth  to  God.' 

"  When  I  saw  her  departing,  and  was  overwhelmed  with  sorrow,  she 
said  with  sweetness, '  Do  not  be  so  concerned  at  parting,  for  I  trust 
we  shall  meet  where  we  shall  part  no  more.  Yet  it  is  a  solemn  thing  to 
die  ;  whatever  men  may  think  of  it.  O  this  eternity  !  There  is  no 
time  for  preparing  for  heaven  like  the  time  of  youth.  Though  death 
be  near,  I  can  look  back  with  joy  on  some  of  the  early  years  1  sweetly 
spent  in  my  father's  house  ;  and  think  how  comfortably  I  lived  there. 
What  a  mercy  to  be  dedicated  to  God  betimes.' 

4tWhen  her  soul  was  just  fluttering  on  her  lips,  she  exclaimed, 
*  Lord,  pardon  my  sins,  and  perfect  me  in  holiness  !  Accept  of  praises 
for  the  mercies  I  have  received,  and  fit  me  for  whatsoever  thou  wilt  do 
with  me,  for  Christ's  sake  !' 

"  A  little  after  this  she  fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  on  the  26th  May,  1697." 

In  all  the  Annesley  family  of  which  we  have  any  particulars,  we  see 
the  truth  of  that  word,  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and 
when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  A  pious  education  is  next 
in  efficiency  to  the  all-powerful  grace  of  Christ. 

The  Annesley  and  Wesley  families  are  striking  proofs  of  this  !  How 
many  thousands  perish  for  want  of  a  pious  example  and  religious  in- 
struction in  the  house  of  their  parents  ! 


MRS.  SUSANNA  WESLEY. 

'  Miss  Susanna  Jlnnesley,  afterward  Susanna  Wesley,  was  the  youngest 
daughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  Jlnnesley,  already  mentioned.  She  was  born 
on  the  20th  of  January  in  the  year  1669  or  1670.  She  was  endowed 
with  a  fine  natural  understanding,  which  was  advanced  to  a  very  high 
pitch  of  perfection  by  an  education  at  once  religious  and  literary.  A 
mind  such  as  hers,  nurtured  under  the  roof  and  parental  cares  of  Dr. 
Annesley,  had  the  highest  advantages,  and  must  have  greatly  profited 
by  them.  Though  her  father  was  a  conscientious  Nonconformist,  he 
had  too  much  dignity  of  mind,  leading  his  religion  out  of  the  question, 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLET.  171 

to  he  a  bigot.  Under  the  parental  roof,  and  before  she  was  thirteen 
years  of  age,  she  examined  without  restraint  the  whole  controversy 
between  the  Established  Church  and  the  Dissenters.  The  issue  of 
which  was,  she  renounced  her  religious  fellowship  with  the  latter, 
and  adopted  the  creed  and  forms  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  to  which 
she  faithfully  and  zealously  adhered  as  long  as  she  lived.  It  does  not 
appear  that  her  father  threw  any  obstacles  in  her  way  ;  or  that  he  after- 
ward disapproved  of  her  marrying  a  rigid  orthodox  Churchman  ;  who, 
from  a  similar  process,  became  a  convert  from  the  peculiar  tenets  of 
his  Nonconformist  ancestors,  to  the  ecclesiastical  Establishment  of  the 
kingdom.  Nor  have  I  learned  after  the  most  extensive  search,  and  the 
closest  inquiry,  that  the  slightest  difference  ever  existed  between  him, 
his  son-in-law,  and  daughter,  upon  the  subject.  "  I  do  not  find,"  says 
Miss  Wesley,  in  a  letter  before  me,  "  that  Dr.  Aunesley,  or  any  of  his 
family  were  prejudiced  against  my  grandfather  for  leaving  the  Dissent- 
ers :  but  his  mind  was  too  enlarged  to  be  prejudiced,  whatever  prefer- 
ence he  had  to  his  own  community." 

It  was  about  the  year  1690  that  she  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Wesley,  when  she  was  in  the  twentieth  or  twenty-first  year  of  her  age. 
As  Mr.  Wesley  was  born  in  1662,  he  was  then  in  his  twenty-eighth 
year  ;  and  she  six  or  seven  years  younger  than  he.  It  is  something 
remarkable,  that  she  survived  him  about  the  same  number  of  years  ;  so 
that  their  pilgrimage  through  life  was  nearly  of  the  same  duration.  Her 
youth,  and  having  children  in  quick  succession,  and  at  different  times 
two  at  a  birth,  will  account  for  the  numerous  family  with  which  they 
were  blessed. 

'  As  their  circumstances  were  narrow  and  confined,  the  education  of  their 
progeny  fell  particularly  upon  themselves  ;  and  especially  on  Mrs.  Wes- 
ley, who  seems  to  have  possessed  every  qualification  requisite  for  either 
a  public  or  private  teacher.  Her  manner  was  peculiar  to  herself,  and  de- 
serves a  distinct  mention.  She  has  detailed  it  in  a  letter  to  her  son  John, 
(July  24, 1732,)  where,  speaking  of  the  children,  she  says,  "  None  of 
them  were  taught  to  read  till  Jive  years  old,  except  Kezzy,  in  whose  case 
I  was  overruled,  and  she  was  more  years  in  learning  than  any  of  the 
rest  had  been  months.  The  way  of  teaching  was  this  : — The  day 
before  a  child  began  to  learn,  the  house  was  set  in  order,  every  one's 
work  appointed  them,  and  a  charge  given  that  none  should  come  into 
the  room  from  nine  to  twelve,  or  from  two  till  five,  which  were  our 
school  hours. 

"  One  day  was  allowed  the  child  wherein  to  learn  its  letters  ;  and 
each  of  them  did  in  that  time  know  all  its  letters,  great  and  smajl, 
except  J\Iolly  and  Nancy,  who  were  a  day  and  a  half  before  they  knew 
them  perfectly,  for  which  I  then  thought  them  very  dull ;  but  the  reason 
why  I  thought  so  was,  because  the  rest  learned  them  so  readily ;  and 
your  brother  Samuel,  who  was  the  first  child  I  ever  taught,  learnt  the 
alphabet  in  a  few  hours.  He  was^/iwe  years  old  on  the  tenth  of  February ; 
the  next  day  he  began  4o  learn  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  knew  the  letters, 
began  at  the  fir.st  chapter  of  Genesis.  He  was  taught  to  spell  the  first 
verse,  then  to  read  it  over  and  over,  till  he  could  read  it  oft  hand  with- 
out any  hesitation,  and  so  on  to  the  necond,  &c,  till  ho  took  ten  verses 


172  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

for  a  lesson,  which  he  quickly  did.  Easter  fell  low  that  year,  and  by 
Whitsuntide  he  could  read  a  chapter  very  well ;  for  he  read  continually, 
and  had  such  a  prodigious  memory,  that  I  cannot  remember  ever  to  have 
told  him  the  same  word  twice.  What  was  yet  stranger,  any  word  he 
had  learnt  in  his  lesson,  he  knew  whenever  he  saw  it,  either  in  his 
Bible  or  any  other  book,  by  which  means  he  learnt  very  soon  to  read 
an  English  author  well. 

"  The  same  method  was  observed  by  them  all.  As  soon  as  they 
knew  the  letters,  they  were  first  put  to  spell,  and  read  one  line,  and  then 
a  verse  ;  never  leaving  till  perfect  in  their  lesson,  were  it  shorter  or 
longer.  So  one  or  other  continued  reading  at  school  time  without  any 
intermission  ;  and  before  we  left  school,  each  child  read  what  he  had 
learnt  that  morning ;  and  ere  we  parted  in  the  afternoon,  what  they 
had  learnt  that  day." 

I  consider  the  above  as  positive  facts,  and  have  no  doubt  concerning 
any  of  them  :  and  take  it  for  granted  that  almost  any  children  may  be 
taught  in  the  same  way,  and  with  similar  success.  But  should  it  be 
copied,  and  generally  recommended  ?  I  think  not.  A  child  should  be 
taught  what  it  is  necessary  for  it  to  know,  as  soon  as  that  necessity 
exists,  and  the  child  is  capable  of  learning.  Among  children  there  is 
a  great  disparity  of  intellect,  and  in  the  power  of  apprehension  and 
comprehension.  Many  children  have  such  a  precocity  of  intellect,  as 
to  be  more  capable  of  learning  to  read  at  hco  than  others  are  at  Jive  years 
of  age  :  and  it  would  be  high  injustice  indeed  to  prevent  them  from 
acquiring  much  useful  knowledge,  and  some  hundreds,  if  not  thousands 
of  ideas,  by  waiting  for  a  prescribed  term  of  fire  years.  When  a  child 
is  capable  of  learning  any  thing,  give  that  teaching  ;  but  let  the  teach- 
ing be  regularly  graduated  ;  let  it  go  on  from  step  to  step,  never  oblig- 
ing it  to  learn  what  it  cannot  yet  comprehend.  We  begin  very  pro- 
perly with  letters,  or  the  elementary  signs  of  language  ;  teach  the  child 
to  distinguish  them  from  each  other,  and  give  them  in  their  names  some 
notion  of  their  power.  We  then  teach  them  to  combine  them  into 
simple  SYLLABLES  ;  syllables  into  WORDS  ;  words  into  SENTENCES  ; 
sentences  into  SPEECHES,  or  regular  discourse.  This  process  is  as 
philosophic  as  it  is  natural: — -but  who  follows  it  through  the  successive 
steps  of  education  ?  Scarcely  any.  Because  a  child  can  understand  a 
little,  and  shows  aptness  in  learning,  parental  fondness,  or  the  teacher's 
ignorance,  come  into  powerful  operation  ;  and  the  child  is  pushed  un- 
naturally forward  to  departments  of  learning  to  which  it  has  not  been 
gradually  inducted.  The  mind  is  puzzled  and  bewildered ;  a  great 
gulf  is  left  behind  which  cuts  off  all  connection  with  what  has  been 
already  learned,  and  what  is  now  proposed  to  the  understanding  ;  and 
the  issue  is,  the  child  is  confounded  and  discouraged  ;  and  falls  either 
under  the  power  of  hebitude,  or  learns  superficially,  and  never  becomes 
a  correct  scholar.  A  child  must  understand  what  it  is  doing,  before  it 
can  do  what  it  ought. 

Few  are  taught  to  spell  their  mother  tongue  correctly.  They  are 
hurried  on  from  reading  to  reading  and  prating,  and  never  learn  to  spell 
a  sentence  with  propriety.  Thus  mothers,  in  general,  teach  their 
children  their  mother's  tongue. 


MRS.    SU8ANNA    WESLEY.  173 

I  have  before  me  original  letters  of  lords  and  ladies  who  were 
correspondents  of  the  Wesley  family,  where  the  writing  is  elegant,  and 
the  spelling  execrable.  The  learned  languages  cannot  be  acquired  in 
this  way ;  and  hence  they  are  more  correctly  learned  in  England  than 
English  itself.  Dr.  Edmund  Castel,  (author  of  the  Heptaglott  Lexicon 
that  usually  goes  with  Walton's  Polyglott  Bible,)  was  in  Latin,  Greek, 
Hebrew,  Samaritan,  Chaldee,  Syriac,  JEthiopic,  Arabic,  and  Persian, 
the  most  learned  man  of  his  day  in  Great  Britain :  yet  this  same 
eminent  scholar  could  not  write  one  sentence  in  English,  correct  in  its 
orthography. 

Mrs.  Wesley  says  nothing  of  teaching  the  children  to  spell :  but  her 
plan  in  this  must  have  been  excellent,  as  all  the  family  wrote  in  this 
respect  with  the  greatest  accuracy. 

"  But  why  did  Mrs.  Wesley  postpone  the  teaching  her  children  their 
letters  till  they  were  five  years  of  age  ?  If  this  were  not  the  best  plan, 
so  very  sensible  a  woman  would  never  have  adopted  it."  There  is 
perhaps  a  little  mystery  here,  that  may  easily  be  explained.  Samuel 
was  the  eldest  of  Mrs.  W.'s  children :  he  was  the  first  on  which  she 
tried  this  method  of  instruction.  "  But  why  did  she  not  begin  with 
him  sooner]" 

For  this  plain  reason ;  he  could  not  speak !  Mr.  Wesley  himself 
told  me  the  following  anecdote  : — 

"  My  brother  Samuel  did  not  attempt  to  speak  till  he  was  between 
four  and  five  years  old ;  nor  did  the  family  know  whether  he  would 
ever  be  able  to  speak.  To  their  surprise  he  began  at  once.  There 
was  a  cat  in  the  house  which  was  a  great  favourite  with  him  ;  he  would 
frequently  carry  it  about,  and  retire  with  it  into  private  places.  One 
day  he  disappeared ;  the  family  sought  up  and  down  for  him  to  no 
purpose  ;  my  mother  got  alarmed  for  his  safety,  and  went  through  the 
house  loudly  calling  him  by  his  name.  At  last  she  heard  a  voice  from 
under  a  table  saying,  Here  am  I,  mother!  Looking  down,  she  to  her 
surprise  saw  Sammy  and  his  cat.  From  this  time  he  spoke  regularly, 
and  without  any  kind  of  hesitation." 

Had  this  story  come  to  me  by  tradition,  I  should  have  found  it 
difficult  of  credit. 

It  was  probably  this  circumstance  that  induced  Mrs.  Wresley  to 
adopt  the  five  years'  plan.  WTith  Sam  she  could  not  begin  sooner. 
Mary  and  Anne  she  found  it  difficult  to  forward  in  the  same  way. 
Kezzy  she  was  persuaded  to  try  before  the  time,  and  was  unsuccessful. 
She  appears  therefore  to  have  fixed  the  term  of  five  years  partly  from 
necessity,  and  partly  from  experience.  I  have  no  doubt  she  might 
have  begun  much  sooner  with  most  of  them,  with  equal  advantage  to 
herself,  and  much  more  to  them.  I  do  not  hesitate  therefore  to 
transcribe  my  own  maxim  : — A  child  should  be  taught  what  is  necessary 
for  it  to  know,  as  soon  03  that  necessity  exists,  and  the  child  is  capable 
oj  learning. 

Such  was  Mrs.  Wesley's  method  of  teaching  her  children  to  read ; 
and  she  was  equally  assiduous  in  teaching  them  their  duty  to  God,  and 
to  their  parents.  She  had  nineteen  children,  most  of  whom  lived  to  be 
educated ;  and  ten  came  to  man  and  woman's  estate.  Her  son  John 


174  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

mentions  "  the  calm  serenity  with  which  his  mother  transacted  business, 
wrote  letters,  and  conversed,  surrounded  by  her  thirteen  children." 
All  these  were  educated  by  herself.  And  as  she  was  a  woman  that 
lived  by  rule,  she  methodized  and  arranged  every  thing  so  exactly,  that 
to  each  operation  she  had  a  time ;  and  time  sufficient  to  transact  all  the 
business  of  the  family.  It  appears  also  from  several  of  the  private 
papers,  that  she  had  no  small  share  in  managing  the  secular  concerns 
of  the  rectory.  The  tithes  and  glebe  were  much  under  her  inspection. 
As  to  the  children,  their  times  of  going  to  rest,  rising  in  the  morning, 
dressing,  eating,  learning,  and  exercise,  she  managed  by  rule ;  which 
was  never  suffered  to  be  broken,  unless  in  case  of  sickness.  From 
her  Mr.  John  Wesley  derived  all  that  knowledge  in  the  education  of 
children,  which  he  has  detailed  so  amply,  and  so  successfully  enforced. 
It  has  been  wondered  at  that  a  man  who  had  no  children  of  his  own 
could  have  known  so  well  how  they  should  be  managed  and  educated  : 
but  that  wonder  will  at  once  cease,  when  it  is  recollected  by  whom  he 
was  himself  educated ;  and  who  was  his  instructress  in  all  things, 
during  his  infancy  and  youth. 

Mrs.  Wesley  taught  her  children  from  their  earliest  age  their  duty  to 
their  parents.  She  had  little  difficulty  in  breaking  their  leills,  or 
reducing  them  to  absolute  subjection.  They  were  early  brought  by 
rational  means  under  a  mild  yoke :  they  were  perfectly  obsequious  to 
their  parents  ;  and  were  taught  to  wait  their  decision  in  every  thing 
they  were  to  have,  and  in  every  thing  they  were  to  perform. 

They  were  taught  also  to  ask  a  blessing  upon  their  food,  to  behave 
quietly  at  family  prayers,  and  to  reverence  the  Sabbath.  They  were 
never  permitted  to  command  the  servants,  or  to  use  any  words  of  autho- 
rity in  their  addresses  to  them.  Mrs.  Wesley  charged  the  servants  to 
do  nothing  for  any  of  the  children  unless  they  asked  it  with  humility 
and  respect ;  and  the  children  were  duly  informed  that  the  servants 
had  such  orders.  This  is  the  foundation,  and  indeed  the  essence,  of 
good  breeding.  Insolent,  impudent,  and  disagreeable  children  are  to 
be  met  with  every  where  ;  because  this  simple,  but  important,  mode  of 
bi-inging  up  is  neglected.  "  Molly,  Robert,  be  pleased  to  do  so  and 
so,"  was  the  usual  method  of  request  both  from  the  sons  and  the  daugh- 
ters ;  and  because  the  children  behaved  thus  decently,  the  domestics 
reverenced  and  loved  them ;  were  strictly  attentive  to,  and  felt  it  a 
privilege  to  serve  them. 

They  were  never  permitted  to  contend  with  each  other  ;  whatever 
differences  arose,  the  parents  were  the  umpires,  and  their  decision  was 
never  disputed.  The  consequence  was,  there  were  few  misunder- 
standings among  them,  and  no  unbrotherly  or  vindictive  passions :  and 
they  had  the  common  fame  of  being  the  mott  loving  family  in  the  county 
of  Lincoln !  How  much  evil  may  be  prevented,  and  how  much  good 
may  be  done,  by  judicious  management  in  the  education  of  children  ? 

But  Mrs.  Wesley's  whole  method  in  bringing  up  and  managing  her 
family  is  so  amply  detailed  in  the  letter  from  which  I  have  made  the 
extract  relative  to  the  mode  of  teaching  them  to  read,  that  it  would  bo 
as  great  an  injustice  to  her  to  omit  it,  as  it  will  be  profitable  to  every 
reader  to  see  it. 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLEY.  175 

"  Epworth,  July  24,  1732. 

u  DEAR  SON, — According  to  your  desire  I  have  collected  the  principal 
rules  I  observed  in  educating  my  family. 

"  The  children  were  always  put  into  a  regular  method  of  living,  in 
such  things  as  they  were  capable  of,  from  their  birth ;  as  in  dressing 
and  undressing,  changing  their  linen,  Sic.  The  first  quarter  commonly 
passes  in  sleep.  After  that  they  were,  if  possible,  laid  into  their  cradle 
awake,  and  rocked  to  sleep ;  and  so  they  were  kept  rocking  till  it  was 
time  for  them  to  awake.  This  was  done  to  bring  them  to  a  regular 
course  of  sleeping,  which  at  first  was  three  hours  in  the  morning,  and 
three  in  the  afternoon ;  afterward  two  hours,  till  they  needed  none  at 
all.  When  turned  a  year  old,  (and  some  before)  they  were  taught  to 
fear  the  rod,  and  to  cry  softly,  by  which  means  they  escaped  abundance 
of  correction  which  they  might  otherwise  have  had ;  and  that  most 
odious  noise  of  the  crying  of  children  was  rarely  heard  in  the  house  : 
but  the  family  usually  lived  in  as  much  quietness  as  if  there  had  not 
been  a  child  among  them. 

"  As  soon  as  they  were  grown  pretty  strong,  they  were  confined  to 
three  meals  a  day.  At  dinner  their  little  table  and  chairs  were  set  by 
ours,  where  they  could  be  overlooked ;  and  they  were  suffered  to  eat 
and  drink  (small  beer)  as  much  as  they  would,  but  not  to  call  for  any 
thing.  If  they  wanted  aught,  they  used  to  whisper  to  the  maid  that 
attended  them,  who  came  and  spake  to  me ;  and  as  soon  as  they  could 
handle  a  knife  and  fork,  they  were  set  to  our  table. — They  were  never 
suffered  to  choose  their  meat :  but  always  made  to  eat  such  things  as 
were  provided  for  the  family.  Mornings  they  always  had  spoonmeat ; 
sometimes  at  nights.  But  whatever  they  had,  they  were  never  permit- 
ted at  those  meals  to  eat  of  more  than  one  thing,  and  of  that  sparingly 
enough.  Drinking  or  eating  between  meals  was  never  allowed  unless 
in  case  of  sickness,  which  seldom  happened.  Nor  were  they  suffered 
to  go  into  the  kitchen  to  ask  any  thing  of  the  servants,  when  they  were 
at  meat :  if  it  was  known  they  did  so,  they  were  certainly  beat,  and  the 
servants  severely  reprimanded. 

"  At  *«•,  as  soon  as  family  prayer  was  over,  they  had  their  supper ; 
at  seven  the  maid  washed  them,  and  beginning  at  the  youngest,  she 
undressed  and  got  them  all  to  bed  by  eight;  at  which  time  she  left 
them  in  their  several  rooms  awake,  for  there  was  no  such  thing  allowed 
of,  in  our  house,  as  sitting  by  a  child  till  it  fell  asleep. 

"  They  were  so  constantly  used  to  eat  and  drink  what  was  given 
them,  that  when  any  of  them  was  ill,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  making 
them  take  the  most  unpleasant  medicine,  for  they  durst  not  refuse  it, 
though  some  of  them  would  presently  throw  it  up.  This  I  mention  to 
show  that  a  person  may  be  taught  to  take  any  thing,  though  it  be  never 
so  much  against  his  stomach. 

"  In  order  to  form  the  minds  of  the  children,  the  first  thing  tq  be 
done  is  to  conquer  their  will,  and  bring  them  to  an  obedient  temper. 
To  inform  the  Understanding  is  a  work  of  time ;  and  must  with  children 
proceed  by  slow  degrees,  as  they  are  able  to  bear  it :  but  the  subjecting 
the  will  is  a  thing  which  must  be  done  at  once,  and  the  sooner  the 
better ;  for  by  neglecting  timely  correction,  they  will  contract  a  stub- 


176  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

bornness  and  obstinacy  which  are  hardly  ever  after  conquered,  and 
never  without  using  such  severity  as  would  be  as  painful  to  me  as  to 
the  child.  In  the  esteem  of  the  world,  they  pass  for  kind  and  indulgent, 
whom  I  call  cruel,  parents  ;  who  permit  their  children  to  get  habits 
which  they  know  must  be  afterward  broken.  Nay,  some  are  so 
stupidly  fond,  as  in  sport  to  teach  their  children  to  do  things,  which  in 
a  while  after  they  have  severely  beaten  them  for  doing.  \Vhen  a  child 
is  corrected  it  must  be  conquered,  and  this  Will  be  no  hard  matter  to 
do,  if  it  be  not  grown  headstrong  by  too  much  indulgence.  And  when 
the  will  of  a  child  is  totally  subdued,  and  it  is  brought  to  revere  and 
stand  in  awe  of  the  parents,  then  a  great  many  childish  follies  and 
inadvertencies  may  be  passed  by. — Some  should  be  overlooked  and 
taken  no  notice  of,  and  others  mildly  reproved ;  but  no  wilful  trans- 
gressions ought  ever  to  be  forgiven  children,  without  chastisement  less 
or  more,  as  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the  offence  may  require. 
I  insist  upon  conquering  the  will  of  children  betimes,  because  this  is 
the  only  strong  and  rational  foundation  of  a  religious  education,  without 
which  both  precept  and  example  will  be  ineffectual.  But  when  this  is 
thoroughly  done,  then  a  child  is  capable  of  being  governed  by  the 
reason  and  piety  of  its  parents,  till  its  own  understanding  comes  to 
maturity,  and  the  principles  of  religion  have  taken  root  in  the  mind. 

I  cannot  yet  dismiss  this  subject.  As  self-will  is  the  root  of  all  sin 
and  misery,  so  whatever  cherishes  this  in  children  insures  their  after 
wretchedness  and  irreligion:  whatever  checks  and  mortifies  it,  promotes 
their  future  happiness  and  piety.  This  is  still  more  evident  if  we  farther 
consider  that  religion  is  nothing  else  than  the  doing  the  will  of  God, 
and  not  our  own ;  that  the  one  grand  impediment  to  our  temporal  and 
eternal  happiness  being  this  self-will,  no  indulgences  of  it  can  be  trivial, 
no  denial  unprofitable.  Heaven  or  hell  depends  on  this  alone.  So 
that  the  parent  who  studies  to  subdue  it  in  his  child,  works  together 
with  God  in  the  renewing  and  saving  a  soul.  The  parent  who  indulges 
it  does  the  devil's  work ;  makes  religion  impracticable,  salvation  unat- 
tainable, and  does  all  that  in  him  lies  to  damn  his  child  soul  arid  body 
for  ever. 

"  Our  children  were  taught,  as  soon  as  they  could  speak,  the  Lord's 
prayer,  which  they  were  made  to  say  at  rising  and  bed-time  constantly  ; 
to  which,  as  they  grew  bigger  were  added  a  short  prayer  for  their 
parents,  and  some  collects,  a  short  catechism,  and  some  portion  of 
Scripture,  as  their  memories  could  bear.  They  were  very  early  made 
to  distinguish  the  Sabbath  from  other  days  before  they  could  well  speak 
or  go*.  They  were  as  soon  taught  to  be  still  at  family  prayers,  and  to 
ask  a  blessing  immediately  after,  which  they  used  to  do  by  signs,  before 
they  could  kneel  or  speak, 

"  They  were  quickly  made  to  understand  they  might  have  nothing 
they  cried  for,  and  instructed  to  speak  handsomely  for  what  they  wanted. 
They  were  not  suffered  to  ask  even  the  lowest  servant  for  aught,  without 
saying,  Pray,  give  me  such  a  thing  ;  and  the  servant  was  chid  if  she 
ever  let  them  omit  that  word. 

"Taking  God's  name  in  vain,  cursing  and  swearing,  profaneness, 
obscenity,  rude  ill-bred  names,  were  never  heard  among  them  ;  nor 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLEY,  177 

were  they  ever  permitted  to  call  each  other  by  their  proper  names 
without  the  addition  of  brother  or  sister. 

"  There  was  no  such  thing  as  loud  talking  or  playing  allowed  of:  but 
every  one  was  kept  close  to  business  for  the  six  hours  of  school.  And 
it  is  almost  incredible  what  a  child  may  be  taught  in  a  quarter  of  a  year 
by  a  vigorous  application,  if  it  have  but  a  tolerable  capacity  and  good 
health.  Kezzy  excepted,  all  could  read  better  in  that  time,  than  the 
most  of  women  can  do  as  long  as  they  live.  Rising  out  of  their  places, 
or  going  out  of  the  room,  was  not  permitted  except  for  good  cause ; 
and  running  into  the  yard,  garden,  or  street,  without  leave,  was  always 
esteemed  a  capital  offence. 

"  For  some  years  we  went  on  very  well.  Never  were  children  in 
better  order.  Never  were  children  better  disposed  to  piety,  or  in  more 
subjection  to  their  parents,  till  that  fatal  dispersion  of  them  after  the  fire, 
into  several  families.  In  those  they  were  left  at  full  liberty  to  converse 
with  servants,  which  before  they  had  always  been  restrained  from ;  and 
to  run  abroad  to  play  with  any  children  good  or  bad.  They  soon  learn- 
ed to  neglect  a  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath ;  and  got  knowledge 
of  several  songs  and  bad  things,  which  before  they  had  no  notion  of. 
That  civil  behaviour,  which  made  them  admired,  when  they  were  at 
home,  by  all  who  saw  them,  was  in  a  great  measure  lost ;  and  a  clown- 
ish accent  and  many  rude  ways  were  learnt,  which  were  not  reformed 
without  some  difficulty. 

"  When  the  house  was  rebuilt,  and  the  children  all  brought  home, 
we  entered  on  a  strict  reform  ;  and  then  was  begun  the  custom  of 
singing  psalms  at  beginning  and  leaving  school  morning  and  evening. 
Then  also  that  of  a  general  retirement  at  five  o'clock  was  entered  upon. 
When  the  oldest  took  the  youngest  that  could  speak,  and  the  second 
the  next,  to  whom  they  read  the  psalms  for  the  day,  and  a  chapter  in 
the  New  Testament :  as  in  the  morning  they  were  directed  to  read  the 
psalms,  and  a  chapter  in  the  Old  ;  after  which,  they  went  to  their  private 
prayers,  before  they  got  their  breakfast,  or  came  into  the  family. 

"  There  were  several  by-laws  observed  among  us.  I  mention  them 
here  because  I  think  them  useful. 

"  1.  It  had  been  observed  that  cowardice  and  fear  of  punishment 
often  lead  children  into  lying  ;  till  they  get  a  custom  of  it  which  they 
cannot  leave.  To  prevent  this,  a  law  was  made  that  whoever  was 
charged  with  a  fault,  of  which  thsy  were  guilty,  if  they  would  ingenu- 
ously confess  it,  and  promise  to  amend,  should  not  be  beaten.  This 
rule  prevented  a  great  deal  of  lying ;  and  would  have  done  more,  if 
one  in  the  family  would  have  observed  it.  But  he  could  not  be  pre- 
vailed on,  and  therefore  was  often  imposed  upon  by  false  colours  and 
equivocations,  which  none  would  have  used  but  one  had  they  been  kindly 
dealt  with ;  and  some  in  spite  of  all  would  always  speak  truth  plainly. 

"  2.  That  no  sinful  action,  as  lying,  pilfering,  playing  at  Church  or 
on  the  Lord's  day,  disobedience,  quarelling,  &c,  should  ever  pass 
unpunished. 

"  3.  That  no  child  should  ever  be  chid,  or  beat  twice  for  the  sam« 
fault ;  and  that  if  they  amended,  they  should  never  be  upbraided  with 
it  afterward. 

23 


178  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

**  4.  That  every  signal  act  of  obedience,  especially  when  it  crossed 
upon  their  own  inclinations,  should  be  always  commended,  and  fre- 
quently rewarded,  according  to  the  merits  of  the  case. 

"  5.  That  if  ever  any  child  performed  an  act  of  obedience,  or  did 
any  thing  with  an  intention  to  please,  though  the  performance  was  not 
well,  yet  the  obedience  and  intention  should  be  kindly  accepted,  and 
the  child  with  sweetness  directed  how  to  do  better  for  the  future. 

"6.  That  propriety  be  inviolably  preserved;  and  none  suffered  to 
invade  the  property  of  another  in  the  smallest  matter,  though  it  were 
but  of  the  value  of  a  farthing,  or  a  pin ;  which  they  might  not  take 
from  the  owner  without,  much  less  against,  his  consent.  This  rule 
can  never  be  too  much  inculcated  on  the  minds  of  children ;  and  from 
the  want  of  parents  or  governors  doing  it  as  they  ought,  proceeds  that 
shameful  neglect  of  justice  which  we  may  observe  in  the  world. 

"  7.  That  promises  be  strictly  observed  ;  and  a  gift  once  bestowed, 
and  so  the  right  passed  away  from  the  donor,  be  not  resumed,  but  left 
to  the  disposal  of  him  to  whom  it  was  given ;  unless  it  were  conditional, 
and  the  condition  of  the  obligation  not  performed. 

"  8.  That  no  girl  be  taught  to  work  till  she  can  read  very  well ;  and 
then  that  she  be  kept  to  her  work  with  the  same  application,  and  for 
the  same  time,  that  she  was  held  to  in  reading.  This  rule  also  is  much 
to  be  observed ;  for  the  putting  children  to  learn  sewing  before  they 
can  read  perfectly  is  the  very  reason  why  so  few  women  can  read  fit  to 
be  heard,  and  never  to  be  well  understood." 

After  such  management,  who  need  wonder  at  the  rare  excellence  of 
the  Wesley  family ! 

Mrs.  Wesley  never  considered  herself  discharged  from  the  care  of 
her  children.  Into  all  situations  she  followed  them  with  her  prayers 
and  counsels  :  and  her  sons,  even  when  at  the  university,  found  the 
utility  of  her  wise  and  parental  instructions.  They  proposed  to  her  all 
their  doubts,  and  consulted  her  in  all  difficulties.  The  following  letter 
to  her  son  John,  in  answer  to  queries  proposed  concerning  some 
authors,  and  their  opinions,  will  show  how  able  she  was  to  instruct, 
and  what  her  opinion  was  relative  to  the  doctrine  of  predestination 
especially. 

"  JVroote,  Jan.  8,  172$. 

"  DEAR  SON, — I  cannot  recollect  the  passages  you  mention :  but 
believing  you  do  the  author,  I  positively  aver  that  he  is  extremely  in 
the  wrong  in  that  impious,  not  to  say  blasphemous,  assertion,  That 
God  by  an  irresistible  decree  hath  determined  any  man  to  be  miserable, 
even  in  this  life.  His  intentions,  as  himself,  are  holy,  and  just,  and 
good ;  and  all  the  miseries  incident  to  men  here  or  hereafter  spring 
from  themselves.  The  case  stands  thus : — This  life  is  a  state  of 
probation,  wherein  eternal  happiness  or  misery  is  proposed  to  our 
choice  ;  the  one  as  the  reward  of  a  virtuous,  the  other  as  a  consequence 
of  a  vicious,  life.  Man  is  a  compound  being,  a  strange  mixture  of 
spirit  and  matter;  or  rather  a  creature,  wherein  those  opposite  principles 
are  united  without  mixture,  yet  each  principle,  after  an  incomprehensible 
manner,  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  other. — The  true  happiness  of 
man,  under  this  consideration,  consists  in  a  due  subordination  of  the 


MRS.   SUSANNA    WESLEY.  179 

inferior  to  the  superior  powers  ;  of  the  animal  to  the  rational  nature  ; 
and  of  bolh  to  GOD. 

44  This  was  his  original  righteousness  and  happiness  that  was  lost 
in  Adam  :  and  to  restore  man  to  this  happiness,  by  the  recovery  of  his 
original  righteousness,  was  certainly  God's  design  in  admitting  him  to 
the  state  of  trial  on  the  world,  and  of  our  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ. 
And  surely  this  was  a  design  truly  worthy  of  God !  and  the  greatest 
instance  of  mercy  that  even  Omnipotent  goodness  could  exhibit  to  us. 

44  As  the  happiness  of  man  consists  in  a  due  subordination  of  the 
inferior  to  the  superior  powers,  &c,  so  the  inversion  of  this  order  is 
the  true  source  of  human  misery.  There  is  in  us  all  a  natural  propen- 
sion  toward  the  body  and  the  world.  The  beauty,  pleasures,  and  ease, 
of  the  body  strangely  charm  us  ;  the  wealth  and  honours  of  the  world 
allure  us  :  and  all,  under  the  manage  of  a  subtle  malicious  adversary, 
give  a  prodigious  force  to  present  things ;  and  if  the  animal  life  once 
get  the  ascendant  of  our  reason,  it  utterly  deprives  us  of  our  moral 
liberty,  and  by  consequence  makes  us  wretched.  Therefore  for  any 
man  to  endeavour  after  happiness,  in  gratifying  all  his  bodily  appetites 
in  opposition  to  his  reason,  is  the  greatest  folly  imaginable :  because 
he  seeks  it  where  God  has  not  designed  he  shall  ever  find  it.  But  this 
is  the  case  of  the  generality  of  men  :  they  live  as  mere  animals,  wholly 
given  up  to  the  interests  and  pleasures  of  the  body ;  and  all  the  use  of 
their  understanding  is,  to  make  provision  for  the  flesh  to  fulfil  the  lusts 
thereof,  without  the  least  regard  to  future  happiness  or  misery. 

44  It  is  true,  our  eternal  state  lies  under  a  vast  disadvantage  to  us  in 
this  life,  in  that,  that  it  is  future  and  invisible :  and  it  requires  great 
attention  and  application  of  mind,  frequent  retirement,  and  intense  think- 
ing, to  excite  our  affections,  and  beget  such  an  habitual  sense  of  it  as  is 
requisite  to  enable  us  to  walk  steadily  in  the  paths  of  virtue,  in  opposi- 
tion to  our  corrupt  nature,  and  all  the  vicious  customs  and  maxims  of 
the  world.  Our  blessed  Lord  who  came  from  heaven  to  save  us  from 
our  sins,  as  well  as  the  punishment  of  them,  as  knowing  that  it  was 
impossible  for  us  to  be  happy  in  either  world,  unless  we  were  holy,  did 
not  intend  by  commanding  us  to  take  up  the  cross,  that  we  should  bid 
adieu  to  all  joy  and  satisfaction  indefinitely  :  but  he  opens  and  extends 
our  views  beyond  time  to  eternity.  He  directs  us  where  to  place  our 
joys ;  how  to  seek  satisfaction  durable  as  our  being ;  which  is  not  to 
be  found  in  gratifying,  but  in  retrenching  our  sensual  appetites ;  not  in 
obeying  the  dictates  of  our  irregular  passions,  but  in  correcting  their 
exorbitancy,  bringing  every  appetite  of  the  body  and  power  of  the  soul 
under  subjection  to  his  laws,  if  we  would  follow  him  to  heaven.  And 
because  he  knew  we  could  not  do  this  without  great  contradiction  to 
our  corrupt  animality,  therefore  he  enjoins  us  to  take  up  this  cross,  and 
to  fight  under  his  banner  against  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  the  devil. 
And  when,  by  the  grace  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  we  are  so  far  conquerors, 
as  that  we  never  willingly  offend,  but  still  press  after  greater  degrees  of 
Christian  perfection,  sincerely  endeavouring  to  plant  each  virtue  in  our 
minds,  that  may  through  Christ  render  us  pleasing  to  God ;  we  shall 
then  experience  the  truth  of  Solomon's  assertion,  •  The  ways  of  virtue 
are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace.' 


180  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"  I  take  Kempis  to  have  been  an  honest  weak  man,  who  had  more 
zeal  than  knowledge,  by  his  condemning  all  mirth  or  pleasure  as  sinful 
or  useless,  in  opposition  to  so  many  direct  and  plain  texts  of  Scripture. 
Would  you  judge  of  the  lawfulness  or  unlawfulness  of  pleasure  ;  of  the 
innocence  or  malignity  of  actions  ;  take  this  rule, — Whatever  weakens 
your  reason,  impairs  the  tenderness  of  your  conscience,  obscures  your 
sense  of  God,  or  takes  off  the  relish  of  spiritual  things  :  in  short,  what- 
ever increases  the  strength  and  authority  of  your  body  over  your  mind, 
that  thing  is  sin  to  you,  however  innocent  it  may  be  in  itself.  And  so 
-on  the  contrary. 

"  'Tis  stupid  to  say  nothing  is  an  affliction  to  a  good  man.  That  is 
an  affliction  that  makes  an  affliction  either  to  good  or  bad.  Nor  do  I 
understand  how  any  man  can  thank  God  for  present  misery  ;  yet  do  I 
very  well  know  what  it  is  to  rejoice  in  the  midst  of  deep  afflictions  ;  not 
in  the  affliction  itself,  for  then  it  would  necessarily  cease  to  be  one : 
but  in  this  we  may  rejoice,  that  we  are  in  the  hand  of  a  God  who  never 
did,  and  never  can,  exert  his  power  in  any  act  of  injustice,  oppression, 
or  cruelty ;  in  the  power  of  that  superior  wisdom  which  disposes  all 
events,  and  has  promised  that  all  things  shall  work  together  for  good 
(for  the  spiritual  and  eternal  good)  of  those  that  love  him.  We  may 
rejoice  in  hope  that  Almighty  goodness  will  not  suffer  us  to  be  tempted 
above  that  we  are  able ;  but  will  with  the  temptation  make  a  way  to 
escape,  that  we  may  be  able  to  bear  it.  In  a  word,  we  may  and  ought 
to  rejoice  that  God  has  assured  us  he  will  never  leave  or  forsake  us  : 
but  if  we  continue  faithful  to  him,  he  will  take  care  to  conduct  us  safely, 
through  all  the  changes  and  chances  of  this  mortal  life,  to  those  blessed 
regions  of  joy  and  immortality,  where  sin  and  sorrow  can  never  enter." 

There  are  many  excellent  sentiments  and  observations  in  the  preced- 
ing letter ;  and  the  whole  proves  a  capacious  and  well  disciplined  mind, 
that  tried  itself  to  the  bottom,  and  saw  how  little  it  could  depend  on  its 
own  exertions  without  the  especial  help  of  the  grace  and  Spirit  of  Christ. 

In  the  following  month  she  wrote  a  more  direct  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion concerning  election  and  predestination ;  and  especially  the  seven- 
teenth article  of  the  Church,  on  which  her  son  appears  to  have  been 
not  a  little  puzzled. 

To  many  these  points  will  appear  to  be  clearly  stated,  and  satisfac- 
torily discussed,  in  this  letter. 

"  Wroote,  July  18,  1725. 

M  — —  I  have  often  wondered  that  men  should  be  so  vain  to  amuse 
themselves  by  searching  into  the  decrees  of  God,  which  no  human  wit 
can  fathom  ;  and  do  not  rather  employ  their  time  and  powers  in  work- 
ing out  their  salvation^  and  making  their  own  calling  and  election  sure. 
Such  studies  tend  more  to  confound  than  inform  the  understanding ; 
and  young  people  had  best  let  them  alone.  But  since  I  find  you  have 
some  scruples  concerning  our  article  of  predestination,  I  will  tell  you 
my  thoughts  of  the  matter ;  and  if  they  satisfy  not,  you  may  desire  your 
father's  direction,  who  is  surely  better  qualified  for  a  casuist  than  me. 

"  The  doctrine  of  predestination,  as  maintained  by  rigid  Calvinists, 
>s  very  shocking  ;  and  ought  utterly  to  be  abhorred,  because  it  charges 


MRS.    8U3ANXA   WESLET.  181 

the  most  holy  God  with  being  the  author  of  sin.  And  I  think  you 
reason  very  well  and  justly  against  it ;  for  it  is  certainly  inconsistent 
with  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God  to  lay  any  man  under  either  a 
physical  or  moral  necessity  of  committing  sin,  and  then  punish  him  for 
doing  it. — Far  be  this  from  the  Lord  ! — Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right  ? 

"  I  do  firmly  believe  that  God  from  all  eternity  hath  elected  some  to 
everlasting  life  :  but  then  I  humbly  conceive,  that  this  election  is  found- 
ed in  his  foreknowledge,  according  to  that  in  the  eighth  of  Romans, 
ver.  29,  30,  Whom  he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predestinate  to  be 
conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son : — Moreover  whom  he  did  predesti- 
date,  them  he  also  called;  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified; 
and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified. 

"  Whom,  in  his  eternal  prescience,  God  saw  would  make  a  right  use 
of  their  powers  and  accept  of  offered  mercy,  he  did  predestinate, — adopt 
for  his  children,  his  peculiar  treasure.  And  that  they  might  be  con- 
formed  to  the  image  of  his  only  Son,  he  called  them  to  himself  by  his 
eternal  word,  through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  and  internally  by 
his  Holy  Spirit :  which  call  they  obeying,  repenting  of  their  sins,  and 
believing  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  he  justifies  them, — absolves  them  from 
the  guilt  of  all  their  sins,  and  acknowledges  them  as  just  and  righteous 
persons,  through  the  merits  and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  hav- 
ing thus  justified,  he  receives  them  to  glory,  to  heaven. 

"  This  is  the  sum  of  what  I  believe  concerning  predestination,  which 
I  think  is  agreeable  to  the  analogy  of  faith ;  since  it  does  in  no  wise 
derogate  from  the  glory  of  God's  free  grace,  nor  impair  the  liberty  of 
man.  Nor  can  it  with  more  reason  be  supposed  that  the  prescience  of 
God  is  the  cause  that  so  many  finally  perish,  than  that  our  knowing  the 
sun  will  rise  to-morrow  is  the  cause  of  its  rising." 

Mr.  Wesley  found  it  difficult  to  reconcile  the  seventeenth  article  of 
the  Church,  concerning  predestination,  to  the  general  doctrines  of  the 
Church,  and  to  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  knew,  and  has  often  demon- 
strated, that  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  of  reprobation  and  election  are 
false  :  but  still  there  appeared  to  be  something  to  support  them  in  the 
above  article,  and  it  was  in  reference  to  this  that  he  wished  to  have  his 
mother's  views  of  the  subject. 

The  following  letter,  written  to  him  nearly  two  years  after,  will  show 
what  care  this  excellent  mother  took  of  her  son's  spiritual  progress,  and 
of  his  regular  deportment  through  life. 

"Jan.  31,  1727. 

" I  am  heartily  persuaded,  that  the  reason  why  so  many  seek 

to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  are  not  able,  is,  there  is  some 
Delilah,  some  one  beloved  vice  they  will  not  part  with ;  hoping  that  by 
a  strict  observance  of  their  duty  in  other  things,  that  particular  fault 
will  be  dispensed  with.  But,  alas !  they  miserably  deceive  themselves. 
The  way  which  leads  to  heaven  is  so  narrow,  the  gate  we  must  enter  in 
so  strait,  that  it  will  not  permit  a  man  to  pass  with  one  known  unmorti- 
fied  sin  about  him.  Therefore  let  every  one  in  the  beginning  of  their 
Christian  course  seriously  weigh  what  our  Lord  says  in  St.  Luke  xiv, 


182  OF  MU.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

27-34,  '  For  whosoever  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  looketh 
back,  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God.' 

"  I  am  nothing  pleased  we  advised  you  to  have  your  plaid ;  though 
I  am  that  you  think  it  too  dear ;  because  I  take  it  to  be  an  indication 
that  you  are  disposed  to  thrift,  which  is  a  rare  qualification  in  a  young 
man,  who  has  his  fortune  to  make.  Indeed  such  a  one  can  hardly  be 
too  wary,  or  too  careful.  I  would  not  recommend  taking  thought  for 
the  morrow  any  farther  than  is  needful  for  our  improvement  of  present 
opportunities,  in  a  prudent  manage  of  those  talents  God  has  committed 
to  our  trust.  And  so  far  I  think  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  take  thought  for 
the  morrow.  And  I  heartily  wish  you  may  be  well  apprized  of  this 
while  life  is  young.  For, 

Believe  me,  youth  ;  (for  I  am  read  in  cares, 

And  bend  beneath  the  weight  of  more  than  fifty  years.) 

Believe  me,  dear  son,  old  age  is  the  worst  time  we  can  choose  to  mend 
either  our  lives  or  our  fortunes.  If  the  foundations  of  solid  piety  are 
not  laid  betimes  in  sound  principles  and  virtuous  dispositions ;  and  if 
we  neglect,  while  strength  and  vigour  lasts,  to  lay  up  something  ere  the 
infirmities  of  age  overtake  us,  it  is  a  hundred  to  one  odds  that  we  shall 
die  both  poor  and  wicked. 

"  Ah !  my  dear  son,  did  you  with  me  stand  on  the  verge  of  life,  and 
saw  before  your  eyes  a  vast  expanse,  an  unlimited  duration  of  being, 
which  you  might  shortly  enter  upon,  you  can't  conceive  how  all  the 
inadvertencies,  mistakes,  and  sins,  of  youth  would  rise  to  your  view ! 
and  how  different  the  sentiments  of  sensitive  pleasures,  the  desire  of 
sexes,  and  pernicious  friendships  of  the  world,  would  be  then,  from 
what  they  are  now,  while  health  is  entire,  and  seems  to  promise  many 
years  of  life." 

The  following  letter  on  the  nature  and  properties  of  love  would  be  a 
gem  even  in  the  best  written  treatise  on  the  powers  and  passions  of  the 
human  mind.  The  concluding  advice  relative  to  the  mode  of  treating 
such  matters  in  public  preaching  must  interest  all  those  who  minister 
at  the  altar  of  the  Lord. 

"  Wroote,  May  14,  1727. 

"  DEAR  SON, — The  difficulty  there  is  in  separating  the  ideas  of 
things  that  nearly  resemble  each  other,  and  whose  properties  and  effects 
are  much  the  same,  has,  I  believe,  induced  some  to  think  that  the 
human  soul  has  no  passion  but  LOVE  ;  and  that  all  those  passions  or 
affections  which  we  distinguish  by  the  names  of  hope,  fear,  joy,  &c,  are 
no  more  than  various  modes  of  love.  This  notion  carries  some  show 
of  reason,  though  I  can't  acquiesce  in  it.  I  must  confess  I  never  yet 
met  with  such  an  accurate  definition  of  the  passion  of  love,  as  fully 
satisfied  me.  It  is  indeed  commonly  defined  a  desire  of  union  with  a 
known  or  apprehended  good.  But  this  directly  makes  love  and  desire 
the  same  thing ;  which  on  a  close  inspection  I  conceive  they  are  not, 
for  this  reason, — desire  is  strongest,  and  acts  most  vigorously,  when 
the  beloved  object  is  distant,  absent,  or  apprehended  unkind  or  dis- 
pleased ;  whereas  when  the  union  is  attained,  and  fruition  perfect,  com- 
placency, delight,  and  joy,  fill  the  soul  of  the  lover,  while  desire  lies 


MRS.    SUSANNA    WESLEY.  183 

quiescent ;  which  plainly  shows  (at  least  to  me)  that  desire  of  union  is 
an  effect  of  love,  and  not  love  itself. 

"  What  then  is  love  ?  or  how  shall  we  describe  its  strange  myste- 
rious essence  ?  It  is — I  do  not  know  what !  A  powerful  something  ! 
source  of  our  joy  and  grief!  Felt  and  experienced  by  every  one,  and 
yet  unknown  to  all !  Nor  shall  we  ever  comprehend  what  it  is,  till  we 
are  united  to  our  first  principle,  and  there  read  its  wondrous  nature  in 
the  clear  mirror  of  uncreated  Love  !  till  which  time  it  is  best  to  rest 
satisfied  with  such  apprehensions  of  its  essence  as  we  can  collect  from 
our  observations  of  its  effects  and  properties  ;  for  other  knowledge  of 
it  in  our  present  state  is  too  high  and  too  wonderful  for  us ;  neither 
can  we  attain  unto  it. 

"  Suffer  now  a  word  of  advice.  However  curious  you  may  be  in 
searching  into  the  nature,  or  in  distinguishing  the  properties,  of  the 
passions  or  virtues  of  human  kind,  for  your  own  private  satisfaction ; 
be  very  cautious  in  giving  nice  distinctions  in  public  assemblies,  for  it 
does  not  answer  the  true  end  of  preaching,  which  is  to  mend  men's 
lives,  and  not  fill  their  heads  with  unprofitable  speculations.  And 
after  all  that  can  be  said,  every  affection  of  the  soul  is  better  known 
by  experience  than  by  any  description  that  can  be  given  of  it.  An 
honest  man  will  more  easily  apprehend  what  is  meant  by  being  zealous 
for  God,  and  against  sin,  when  he  hears  what  are  the  properties  and 
effects  of  true  zeal,  than  the  most  accurate  definition  of  its  essence. 

"  Dear  son,  the  conclusion  of  your  letter  is  very  kind.  That  you 
were  ever  dutiful,  I  very  well  know.  But  I  know  myself  enough  to 
rest  satisfied  with  a  moderate  degree  of  your  affection.  Indeed  it 
would  be  unjust  in  me  to  desire  the  love  of  any  one.  Your  prayers  I 
want  and  wish ;  nor  shall  I  cease  while  I  live  to  beseech  almighty  God 
to  bless  you.  Adieu." 

It  appears  that  about  this  time  Mr.  J.  Wesley  had  written  to  his 
mother  concerning  afflictions,  and  what  was  the  best  method  of  profit- 
ing by  them  ;  also  expressing  a  wish  that  he  might  not  survive  so  kind 
and  good  a  parent  ;  and  stating  his  conviction  how  happy  she,  who 
had  lived  so  much  devoted  to  God,  must  be  in  her  last  hours.  To  all 
of  which  she  answers  with  her  usual  good  sense,  strong  judgment,  and 
deep  piety. 

"  Wroote,  July  26,  1727. 

"  It  is  certainly  true  that  I  have  had  large  experience  of  what  the 
world  calls  adverse  fortune.  But  I  have  not  made  those  improvements 
in  piety  and  virtue,  under  the  discipline  of  Providence,  that  I  ought  to 
have  done ;  therefore  I  humbly  conceive  myself  to  be  unfit  for  an 
assistant  to  another  in  affliction,  since  I  have  so  ill  performed  my  own 
duty.  But,  blessed  be  God  !  you  are  at  present  in  pretty  easy  cir- 
cumstances ;  which  I  thankfully  acknowledge  is  a  great  mercy  to  me 
as  well  as  you.  Yet  if  hereafter  you  should  meet  with  troubles  of 
various  sorts,  as  it  is  probable  you  will  in  the  course  of  your  life,  be 
it  of  short  or  long  continuance  ;  the  best  preparation  I  know  of  for 
sufferings  is  a  regular  and  exact  performance  of  present  duty  ;  for  this 
will  surely  render  a  man  pleasing  to  God,  and  put  him  directly  under 


184  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

the  protection  of  his  good  providence,  so  that  no  evil  shall  befall  him, 
but  what  he  will  certainly  be  the  better  for  it. 

"  It  is  incident  to  all  men  to  regard  the  past  and  the  future  while  the 
present  moments  pass  unheeded  ;  whereas,  in  truth,  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  is  of  use  to  us  any  farther  than  they  put  us  upon  improving 
the  present  time. 

"  You  did  well  to  correct  that  fond  desire  of  dying  before  me  ;  since 
you  do  not  know  what  work  God  may  have  for  you  to  do  ere  you 
leave  the  world.  And  beside,  I  ought  surely  to  have  the  pre-eminence 
in  point  of  time,  and  go  to  rest  before  you.  Whether  you  could  see 
me  die  without  any  emotions  of  grief  I  know  not ;  perhaps  you  could  : 
it  is  what  I  have  often  desired  of  the  children,  that  they  would  not 
weep  at  our  parting,  and  so  make  death  more  uncomfortable  than  it 
would  otherwise  be  to  me.  If  you  or  any  other  of  my  children  were 
like  to  reap  any  spiritual  advantage  by  being  with  me  at  my  exit,  I 
should  be  glad  to  have  you  with  me.  But  as  I  have  been  an  unprofit- 
able servant,  during  the  course  of  a  long  life,  I  have  no  reason  to  hope 
for  so  great  an  honour,  so  high  a  favour,  as  to  be  employed  in  doing 
our  Lord  any  service  in  the  article  of  death.  It  were  well  if  you  spake 
prophetically,  and  that  joy  and  hope  might  have  the  ascendant  over  the 
other  passions  of  my  soul  in  that  important  hour.  Yet  I  dare  not  presume, 
nor  do  I  despair,  but  rather  leave  it  to  our  almighty  Saviour,  to  do  with 
me  both  in  life  and  death  just  what  he  pleases,  for  I  have  no  choice  !" 

The  following  letter,  on  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  Redeemer  to 
save  fallen  man,  and  of  faith  in  him  in  order  to  salvation,  will  doubtless 
meet  with  the  full  approbation  of  every  pious  reader. 

"  Epivorth,  Feb.  14, 1735. 

"  DEAR  SON, — Since  God  is  altogether  inaccessible  to  us  but  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  since  none  ever  was  or  ever  will  be  saved  but  by  him, — is 
it  not  absolutely  necessary  for  all  people,  young  and  old,  to  be  well 
grounded  in  the  knowledge  and  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  By  faith,  I  do 
not  mean  an  assent  only  to  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  concerning  him  ; 
but  such  an  assent  as  influences  our  practice,  as  makes  us  heartily 
and  thankfully  accept  him  for  our  God  and  Saviour  upon  his  own  con- 
ditions. No  faith  below  this  can  be  saving.  And  since  this  faith  is 
necessary  to  salvation, — can  it  be  too  frequently,  or  too  explicitly,  dis- 
coursed on  to  young  people  ?  I  think  not. 

"  But  since  the  natural  pride  of  man  is  wont  to  suggest  to  him  that 
he  is  self-sufficient,  and  has  no  need  of  a  Saviour ; — may  it  not  be  pro- 
per to  show  (the  young  especially)  that  without  the  great  atonement, 
there  could  be  no  remission  of  sin  ?  And  that  in  the  present  state  of 
human  nature  no  man  can  qualify  himself  for  heaven,  without  the  Holy 
Spirit  which  is  given  by  God  incarnate  ?  To  convince  them  of  this 
truth,  might  it  not  be  needful  to  inform  them,  that  since  God  is  infi- 
nitely just,  or  rather  that  he  is  justice  itself,  it  necessarily  follows  that 
vindictive  justice  is  an  essential  property  in  the  divine  nature  ;  and  if  so, 
one  of  these  two  things  seems  to  have  been  absolutely  necessary  ; 
either,  that  there  must  be  an  adequate  satisfaction  made  to  the  divine 
justice  for  the  violation  of  God's  law  by  mankind,  or  else  that  the  whole 


MRS.   SUSANNA  WESLEY.  185 

human  species  should  have  perished  in  Adam,  (which  would  have 
afforded  too  great  matter  of  triumph  to  the  apostate  angels  ;)  other- 
wise how  could  God  have  been  just  to  himself?  Would  not  some 
mention  of  the  necessity  of  revealed  religion  be  proper  here  ?  since, 
without  it,  all  the  wit  of  man  could  never  have  found  out  how  human 
nature  was  corrupted  in  its  fountain  ;  neither  had  it  been  possible  for  us 
to  have  discovered  any  way  or  means  whereby  it  might  have  been  restored 
to  its  primitive  purity.  Nay,  had  it  been  possible  for  the  brighest  an- 
gels in  heaven  to  have  found  out  such  a  way  to  redeem  and  restore 
mankind  as  God  hath  appointed  ;  yet,  durst  any  of  them  have  proposed 
it  to  the  uncreated  Godhead  ?  No ;  surely  the  offended  must  ap- 
point the  way  to  save  the  offender,  or  man  must  be  lost  for  ever.  O 
the  depth  of  the  riches  of  the  wisdom,  and  knowledge,  and  goodness,  of 
God  !  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding 
out !  As  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  his  thoughts 
higher  than  our  thoughts,  and  his  ways  than  our  ways  ! 

"  Here,  surely,  you  may  give  free  scope  to  your  spirits.  Here  you 
may  freely  use  your  Christian  liberty ;  and  discourse  without  reserve 
of  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  and  love  of  Christ,  as  his  Spirit 
gives  you  utterance. 

"  What,  my  son,  did  the  pure  and  holy  Person  of  the  Son  of  God 
pass  by  tjie  fallen  angels,  who  were  far  superior,  of  greater  dignity,  and 
of  a  higher  order  in  the  scale  of  existence,  and  choose  to  unite  himself 
to  the  human  nature  !  And  shall  we  soften,  as  you  call  it,  these  glo- 
rious truths  ?  Rather  let  us  speak  boldly,  without  fear.  These  truths 
ought  to  be  frequently  inculcated,  and  pressed  home  upon  the  con- 
sciences of  men  ;  and  when  once  men  are  affected  with  a  sense  of 
redeeming  love,  that  sense  will  powerfully  convince  them  of  the  van- 
ity of  the  world  ;  and  make  them  esteem  the  honour,  wealth,  and 
pleasures  of  it  as  dross  or  dung  so  that  they  may  win  Christ. 

"  As  for  moral  subjects  they  are  necessary  to  be  discoursed  on  :  but 
then  I  humbly  conceive  we  are  to  speak  of  moral  virtues  as  Christians, 
and  not  like  Heathens.  And  if  we  would  indeed  do  honour  to  our 
Saviour,  we  should  take  all  fitting  occasions  to  make  men  observe  the 
essence  and  perfection  of  the  moral  virtues  taught  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  far  surpassing  all  that  was  pretended  to  by  the  very  best  of  the 
Heathen  philosophers.  All  their  morality  was  defective  in  principle  and 
direction ;  was  intended  only  to  regulate  the  outward  actions,  but 
never  reached  the  heart ;  or,  at  the  highest,  it  looked  no  farther  than 
the  temporal  happiness  of  mankind.  '  But  moral  virtues,  evangelized 
or  improved  into  Christian  duties,  have  partly  a  view  to  promote  the 
good  of  human  society  here,  but  chiefly  to  qualify  the  observers  of  them 
for  a  much  more  blessed  and  more  enduring  society  hereafter.'  I  cannot 
stay  to  enlarge  on  this  vast  subject ;  nor  indeed  (considering  whom  I 
write  to)  is  it  needful :  yet  one  thing  I  cannot  forbear  adding,  which 
may  carry  some  weight  with  his  admirers  ;  and  that  is,  the  very  wise 
and  just  reply  which  Mr.  Locke  made  to  one  that  desired  him  to  draw 
up  a  system  of  morals.  «  Did  the  world,'  said  he,  *  want  a  rule,  I  con- 
fess there  could  be  no  work  so  necessary,  nor  so  commendable  :  but 
the  Gospel  contains  so  perfect  a  body  of  ethics,  that  reason  may  be 

24 


186  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

excused  from  the  inquiry,  since  she  may  find  man's  duty  clearer  and 
easier  in  Revelation  than  in  herself.' 

"  That  you  may  continue  steadfast  in  the  faith,  and  increase  more 
and  more  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God,  and  of  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ !  that  holiness,  simplicity,  and  purity,  (which  are  different  words 
signifying  the  same  thing)  may  recommend  you  to  the  favour  of  God 
incarnate  !  that  his  Spirit  may  dwell  in  you,  and  keep  you  still  (as  now,) 
under  a  sense  of  God's  blissful  presence !  is  the  hearty  prayer  of,  dear 
son,  your  affectionate  mother  and  most  faithful  friend, 

"  S.  W." 

With  respect  to  the  angelic  nature  my  creed  is  different  from  that  of 
Mrs.  Wesley.  I  believe  man,  as  he  came  from  the  hands  of  God,  was 
much  higher  in  the  excellence  and  perfection  of  his  nature  than  angels. 
JVfau  teas  created  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God.  This  is  not  said 
of  angels  nor  archangels  ;  and  it  appears  to  me  that  it  was  the  superior 
excellence  of  this  nature  that  caused  Jesus  Christ  to  take  upon  him  the 
nature  of  man,  and  not  the  nature  of  angels. 

The  last  of  her  letters  I  shall  give  the  reader  in  this  place.  It  is 
one  written  to  her  son  John  near  the  close  of  this  year,  on  the  happi- 
ness resulting  from  a  close  and  constant  communion  with  God.  She 
had  a  few  months  before  buried  the  husband  of  her  youth ;  and  was  now, 
as  I  collect,  on  a  visit  to  her  daughter  Emily,  who  had  taken  up  a  school 
at  Gainsborough,  about  twelve  miles  from  Epworth. 

"  Gainsborough,  JVbu.  27,  1735. 

u God  is  Being  itself!  the  I  Am !  and  therefore  must  ne- 
cessarily be  the  Supreme  Good  !  He  is  so  infinitely  blessed,  that  every 
perception  of  his  blissful  presence  imparts  a  vital  gladness  to  the  heart. 
Every  degree  of  approach  toward  him  is,  in  the  same  proportion,  a 
degree  of  happiness.  And  I  often  think  that  were  he  always  present 
to  our  mind,  as  we  are  present  to  him,  there  would  be  no  pain,  nor  sense 
of  misery.  I  have  long  since  chose  him  for  my  only  good !  my  all ! 
my  pleasure,  my  happiness  in  this  world,  as  well  as  in  the  world  to 
come  !  And  although  I  have  not  been  so  faithful  to  his  grace  as  I  ought 
to  have  been ;  yet  I  feel  my  spirit  adheres  to  its  choice,  and  aims  daily 
at  cleaving  steadfast  unto  God.  Yet  one  thing  often  troubles  me,  that 
notwithstanding  I  know  that  while  we  are  present  with  the  body  we  are 
absent  from  the  Lord ;  notwithstanding  I  have  no  taste,  no  relish,  left 
for  any  thing  the  world  calls  pleasure,  yet  I  do  not  long  to  go  home  as 
in  reason  I  ought  to  do.  This  often  shocks  me :  and  as  I  constantly 
pray  (almost  without  ceasing)  for  thee,  my  son ;  so  I  beg  you  likewise 
to  pray  for  me,  that  God  would  make  me  better,  and  take  me  at  the 
best !  Your  loving  mother, 

"  SUSANNA  WESLEY." 

We  have  now  seen, — 1.  The  plan  this  extraordinary  woman  adopted 
in  the  nursing  and  bringing  up  of  her  children ;  and,  2.  The  pains  she 
took  with  her  son  John,  when  at  the  university,  to  instil  into  him  those 
heavenly  truths  which  he  afterward  with  such  clearness,  strength,  and 
effect,  declared  to  the  world.  3.  We  shall  find  from  what  follows,  that 


MRS.    SUSANNA   WESLEY.  187 

she  endeavoured  to  embody  all  her  knowledge  and  experience,  and 
form  them  into  a  regular  system  for  the  future  edification  of  her  family. 
Mrs.  Wesley  not  only  examined  the  grounds  of  the  controversy  be- 
tween the  Church  and  the  Dissenters  with  conscientious  carefulness, 
but  she  examined  in  a  similar  way  the  evidences  of  natural  and  revealed 
religion;  and  under  every  article  set  down  the  reasons  which  deter- 
mined her  to  receive  the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God.  On  these 
subjects  I  have  several  things  in  her  own  hand  writing,  which  shall  be 
introduced  in  their  proper  place  :  but  her  master  piece  is  entirely  lost. 
A  letter  of  her's  to  her  son  Samuel,  dated  Oct.  11,  1709,  will  illustrate 
the  above  particulars  : — 

" There  is  nothing  I  now  desire  to  live  for  but  to  do  some 

small  service  to  my  children ;  that  as  I  have  brought  them  into  the 
world,  I  may,  if  it  please  God,  be  an  instrument  of  doing  good  to  their 
souls.  I  had  been  for  several  years  collecting  from  my  little  reading, 
but  chiefly  from  my  own  observation  and  experience,  some  things  which 
I  hoped  might  be  useful  to  you  all.  I  had  begun  to  correct  and  form 
all  into  a  little  manual,  wherein  I  designed  you  should  have  seen  what 
were  the  particular  reasons  which  prevailed  on  me  to  believe  the  being 
of  a  God,  and  the  grounds  of  natural  religion  ;  together  with  the  mo- 
tives that  induced  me  to  embrace  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  under  which 
was  comprehended  my  own  private  reasons  for  the  truth  of  revealed 
religion.  And  because  I  was  educated  among  the  Dissenters,  and 
there  was  something  remarkable  in  my  leaving  them  at  so  early  an  age, 
not  being  full  thirteen,  I  had  drawn  up  an  account  of  the  whole  trans- 
action, under  which  I  had  included  the  main  of  the  controversy  between 
them  and  the  Established  Church,  as  far  as  it  had  come  to  my  know- 
ledge ;  and  then  followed  the  reasons  which  had  determined  my  judg- 
ment to  the  preference  of  the  Church  of  England.  I  had  fairly  tran- 
scribed a  great  part  of  it,  when  you,  writing  to  me  for  some  directions 
about  receiving  the  sacrament,  I  began  a  short  discourse  on  that  sub- 
ject, intending  to  send  them  all  together :  but  before  I  could  finish  my 
design,  the  flames  consumed  both  this  and  all  my  other  writings.  I 
would  have  you  at  your  leisure  to  do  something  like  this  for  yourself, 
and  write  down  what  are  the  principles  on  which  you  build  your  faith  : 
and  though  I  cannot  possibly  recover  all  I  formerly  wrote,  yet  I  will 
gladly  assist  you  what  I  can  in  explaining  any  difficulty  that  may  occur." 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  parsonage  house  at  Epworth  was 
three  parts  consumed  July  31,  1702.  But  a  more  severe  conflagration 
too"k  place  on  the  9th  Feb.  1709,  by  which  the  whole  house  and  the 
property  were  totally  destroyed,  the  family  escaping  with  their  lives, 
almost  by  miracle ;  the  particulars  of  which  calamity  shall  be  detailed 
in  the  life  of  Mr.  J.  Wesley. 

But  the  severest  loss,  at  least  to  posterity,  then  sustained,  was  the 
destruction  of  all  the  family  papers.  All  Mr.  Wesley's  writings  and 
correspondence,  and  the  still  more  important  writings  of  Mrs.  Wesley, 
such  as  those  mentioned  above,  beside  many  papers  and  other  matters 
relative  to  the  Annesley  family,  and  particularly  Dr.  Annesley  himself; 
for  as  Mrs.  Susanna  Wesley  was  his  most  beloved  child,  he  had  en- 


183  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

trusted  to  her  many  invaluable  documents.  This  information  I  have 
received  from  a  particular  and  learned  friend,  who  received  it  from  Mr. 
John  Wesley  himself. 

After  the  last  fire  the  family  were  scattered  to  different  parts ;  the 
children  were  divided  among  neighbours,  relatives,  and  friends,  till  the 
house  could  be  rebuilt.  Mr.  Matthew  Wesley,  the  surgeon,  took  hoo, 
Susan  and  JWehetabel,  with  whom  their  mother  corresponded,  in  order 
to  instruct  them  in  divine  matters,  and  to  confirm  them  in  the  truths  they 
had  already  received.  Having  lost  the  fruits  of  her  former  labour  on 
the  evidences  of  revealed  religion,  Sic,  she  began  her  work  de  novo ; 
and  in  a  long  letter  to  her  daughter  Susan  went  over  the  most  impor- 
tant parts  of  the  same  ground,  and  produced  a  treatise  on  the  chief 
articles  of  the  Christian  faith,  taking  for  her  groundwork  the  Apostles' 
Creed. 

This  invaluable  paper  I  rejoice  to  be  able  to  lay  before  the  reader, 
as  one  of  the  most  precious  relics  of  this  extraordinary  woman.  And 
it  will  be  considered  the  more  important,  as  itself  was  saved  from  a 
fire,  not  less  ruinous  than  that  in  which  its  predecessor  was  consumed. 
It  was  written  but  a  few  months  after  that  to  Samuel,  already  men- 
tioned : — 

"  Epioorth,  Jan.  13,  1709-10. 

"  DEAR  SUKEY, — Since  our  misfortunes  have  separated  us  from  each 
other,  and  we  can  no  longer  enjoy  the  opportunities  we  once  had  of 
conversing  together,  I  can  no  other  way  discharge  the  duty  of  a  parent, 
or  comply  with  my  inclination  of  doing  you  all  the  good  I  can,  but  by 
writing. 

"  You  know  very  well  how  I  love  you.  I  love  your  body  ;  and  do 
earnestly  beseech  almighty  God  to  bless  it  with  health,  and  all  things 
necessary  for  its  comfort  and  support  in  this  world.  But  my  tenderest 
regard  is  for  your  immortal  soul,  and  for  its  spiritual  happiness  ;  which 
regard  I  cannot  better  express,  than  by  endeavouring  to  instil  into  your 
mind  those  principles  of  knowledge  and  virtue  that  are_  absolutely  ne- 
cessary in  order  to  your  leading  a  good  life  here,  which  is  the  only  thing 
that  can  infallibly  secure  your  happiness  hereafter. 

"  The  main  thing  which  is  now  to  be  done  is,  to  lay  a  good  founda- 
tion, that  you  may  act  upon  principles,  and  be  always  able  to  satisfy 
yourself,  and  give  a  reason  to  others  of  the  faith  that  is  in  you  :  for  any 
one  who  makes  a  profession  of  religion,  only  because  it  is  the  custom 
of  the  country  in  which  they  live,  or  because  their  parents  do  so,  or 
their  worldly  interest  is  thereby  secured  or  advanced,  will  never  be  able 
to  stand  in  the  day  of  temptation ;  nor  shall  they  ever  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  And  though  perhaps  you  cannot  at  present  fully 
comprehend  all  I  shall  say ;  yet  keep  this  letter  by  you,  and  as  you 
grow  in  years,  your  reason  and  judgment  will  improve,  and  you  will 
obtain  a  more  clear  understanding  in  all  things. 

"  You  have  already  been  instructed  in  some  of  the  first  principles  of 
religion :  that  there  is  one,  and  but  one  God ;  that  in  the  unity  of  the 
Godhead  there  are  three  distinct  persons,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost; 
that  this  God  ought  to  be  worshipped.  You  have  learned  some  prayers, 


MRS.    SUSANNA   ^TESCET.  189 

your  Creed  and  Catechism,  in  which  is  briefly  comprehended  your 
duty  to  God,  yourself,  and  your  neighbour.  But,  Sukey,  it  is  not 
learning  these  things  by  heart,  nor  your  saying  a  few  prayers  morning 
and  night,  that  will  bring  you  to  heaven ;  you  must  understand  what 
you  say,  and  you  must  practise  what  you  know :  and  since  knowledge 
is  requisite  in  order  to  practise,  I  shall  endeavour  (after  as  plain  a  man- 
ner as  I  can)  to  instruct  you  in  some  of  those  fundamental  points, 
which  are  most  necessary  to  be  known,  and  most  easy  to  be  understood. 
And  I  earnestly  beseech  the  great  Father  of  spirits  to  guide  your  mind 
into  the  way  of  truth. 

"  Though  it  has  been  generally  acknowledged,  that  the  being  and 
perfections  of  God,  and  a  great  part  of  man's  duty  toward  him,  as  that 
we  should  love  him,  and  pray  to  him  for  .what  we  want,  and  praise  him 
for  what  we  enjoy  ;  as  likewise  much  of  our  duty  toward  ourselves  and 
neighbour  are  discoverable  by  the  light  of  nature  ;  that  is,  by  that  under- 
standing and  reason  which  are  natural  to  man :  yet  considering  the 
present  state  of  mankind ;  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  we  should 
have  some  revelation  from  God  to  make  known  to  us  those  truths  upon 
the  knowledge  of  which  our  salvation  depends,  and  which  unassisted 
reason  could  never  have  discovered.  For  all  the  duties  of  natural 
religion,  and  all  the  hopes  of  happiness  which  result  from  the  perform- 
ance of  them,  are  all  concluded  within  the  present  life :  nor  could  we 
have  had  any  certainty  of  the  FUTURE  STATE,  of  the  being  of  SPIRITS, 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  of  a  judgment  to  come. 

"  And  though  we  may  perceive  that  all  these  have  by  nature  a  strong 
bent  or  bias  toward  evil,  and  a  great  averseness  from  good  and  good- 
ness ;  that  our  understandings,  wills,  and  affections,  &c,  are  extremely 
corrupted  and  depraved  ;  yet  how  could  we  have  known  by  what  means 
•we  became  so,  or  how  sin  and  death  entered  into  the  world  1  Since  we 
are  assured  that  whatever  as  absolutely  perfect  as  God  is  could  never 
be  the  author  of  evil ;  and  we  are  as  sure  that  whatever  is  corrupt  or 
impure  must  necessarily  be  offensive  and  displeasing  to  the  most  holy 
God,  there  being  nothing  more  opposite  than  good  and  evil.  Nay, 
farther,  sin  is  not  only  displeasing  to  God,  as  it  is  contrary  to  the  purity 
of  his  divine  nature ;  but  it  is  the  highest  affront  and  indignity  to  his 
sacred  majesty  imaginable. 

"  By  it  his  most  wise  and  holy  laws  are  contemned  and  violated,  and 
his  honour  most  impiously  treated  ;  and  therefore  he  is  in  justice  obliged 
to  punish  such  contempt,  and  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  his  own  laws  : 
nor  can  he,  without  derogating  from  his  infinite  perfections,  pardon 
such  offenders,  or  remit  the  punishment  they  deserve,  without  full  satis- 
faction made  to  his  justice. 

"  Now  I  would  fain  know  which  way  his  justice  could  be  satisfied, 
since  it  is  impossible  for  &  finite  being  like  man  to  do  it;  or  how  the 
nature  of  man  should  be  renewed,  or  he  again  be  admitted  into  the  fa- 
vour of  God  ;  or  how  reason  could  suggest  that  our  weak  endeavours 
and  petitions  should  be  acceptable  instead  of  perfect  obedience,  unless 
some  others  were  substituted  in  our  stead,  that  would  undergo  the 
punishment  we  have  deserved,  and  thereby  satisfy  divine  justice,  and 
purchase  pardon  and  favour  with  God,  the  merit  of  whose  perfect  obe- 


190  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

dience  should  atone  for  the  imperfection  of  ours,  and  so  obtain  for  us  a 
title  to  those  glorious  rewards,  to  that  eternal  happiness  to  which  we 
must  acknowledge  ourselves  utterly  unworthy,  and  of  which  we  must 
have  despaired  without  such  a  Saviour. 

"  Or  how  should  we  have  had  any  certainty  of  our  salvation  unless 
God  had  revealed  these  things  unto  usl  The  soul  is  immortal,  and 
must  survive  all  time,  even  to  eternity ;  and  consequently  it  must  have 
been  miserable  to  the  utmost  extent  of  its  duration,  had  we  not  had  that 
sacred  treasure  of  knowledge  which  is  contained  in  the  books  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament ;  a  treasure  infinitely  more  valuable  than  the 
whole  world,  because  therein  we  find  all  things  necessary  for  our  salva- 
tion. There  also  we  find  many  truths,  which  though  we  cannot  say  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  that  we  should  know  them,  (since  it  is  possible 
to  be  saved  without  that  knowledge,)  yet  it  is  highly  convenient  that  we 
should ;  because  they  give  us  great  light  into  those  things  which  are 
necessary  to  be  known,  and  solve  many  doubts  which  could  not  other- 
wise be  cleared. 

"  Thus  we  collect  from  many  passages  of  Scripture,  that  before  God 
created  the  visible  world,  or  ever  he  made  man,  he  created  a  higher 
rank  of  intellectual  beings,  which  we  call  angels  or  spirits ;  and  these 
were  those  bright  morning  stars  mentioned  in  Job,  which  sang  together ; 
those  sons  of  God  which  shouted  for  joy  when  the  foundations  of  the 
earth  were  laid.  To  these  he  gave  a  law  or  rule  of  action,  as  he  did 
afterward  to  the  rest  of  his  creation ;  and  they  being  free  agents,  having 
a  principle  of  liberty,  of  choosing  or  refusing,  and  of  acting  accordingly, 
as  they  must  have,  or  they  could  not  properly  be  called  either  good  or 
evil ;  for  upon  this  principle  of  freedom  or  liberty  the  principle  of  election 
or  choice  is  founded  ;  and  upon  the  choosing  good  or  evil  depends  the 
being  virtuous  or  vicious,  since  liberty  is  the  formal  essence  of  moral 
virtue,  that  is,  it  is  the  free  choice  of  a  rational  being  that  makes  them 
either  good  or  bad  :  nor  could  any  one  that  acts  by  necessity  be  ever 
capable  of  rewards  or  punishments. 

"  The  angels,  I  say,  being  free  agents,  must,  I  think,  necessarily,  be 
put  on  some  trial  of  their  obedience ;  and  so  consequently  were  at  first 
only  placed  in  a  state  of  probation  or  trial.  Those  who  made  a  good 
use  of  their  liberty,  and  chose  to  obey  the  law  of  their  Creator,  and 
acquiesced  in  the  order  of  the  Divine  wisdom,  which  had  disposed 
them  in  several  ranks  and  orders  subservient  to  each  other,  were  by 
the  Almighty  fiat  confirmed  in  their  state  of  blessedness  ;  nor  are  they 
now  capable  of  any  defection. 

"  But  those  accursed  spirits  that  rebelled  against  their  Maker,  and 
aspired  above  the  rank  in  which  his  providence  had  placed  them,  were 
for  their  presumption  justly  excluded  the  celestial  paradise ;  and  con- 
demned to  perpetual  torments,  which  were  the  necessary  consequences 
of  their  apostasy. 

"  After  the  fall  of  the  angels,  and  perhaps  to  supply  their  defects,  it 
pleased  the  Eternal  Goodness  to  create  Jidam,  who  was  the  first  general 
head  of  mankind  ;  and  in  him  was  virtually  included  the  whole  species 
of  human  nature.  He  was  somewhat  inferior  to  the  angels,  being 
composed  of  two  different  natures,  body  and  sottl.  The  former  was 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLEY.  191 

material,  or  matter  made  of  the  earth  ;  the  latter  immaterial,  or  a  spi- 
ritual substance,  created  after  the  image  of  God.  And  as  man  was 
also  a  rational  free  agent  like  the  angels,  so  it  was  agreeable  to  the 
Eternal  Wisdom  to  place  him  likewise  in  a  state  of  probation  ;  and  the 
trial  of  his  obedience  was,  not  eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  and  the  penalty  of  his  disobedience  was  death. 

"  This  trial  was  suited  to  the  double  or  mixed  nature  of  man ;  the 
beauty,  scent,  and  taste,  of  the  fruit  was  the  trial  of  their  senses  or  appe- 
tites ;  and  the  virtue  of  it  being  not  only  good  for  food,  but  also  to  be 
desired  to  make  one  wise,  was  the  trial  of  their  minds  ;  and  by  this  God 
made  proof  of  our  first  parents,  to  see  whether  they  would  deny  their 
sensual  appetites,  and  keep  the  body  in  due  subjection  to  the  mind  ;  or 
whether  they  would  prefer  the  pleasures  of  sense,  and  thereby  dethrone 
their  reason,  break  the  covenant  of  their  obedience,  and  forfeit  the  fa- 
vour of  God  and  eternal  happiness  ;  and  whether  they  would  humbly 
be  content  with  that  measure  of  knowledge  and  understanding  which 
God  thought  best  for  them,  or  boldly  pry  into  those  things  which  he  had 
forbidden  them  to  search  aftert 

"  Now  the  devil  envying  the  happiness  of  our  first  parents,  being 
grieved  that  any  less  perfect  beings  should  possess  the  place  he  had 
lost,  took  occasion  from  the  reasonable  trial  God  had  proposed  to 
Adam,  to  attack  the  woman  by  a  subtle  question,  Yea,  hath  God  said, 
that  ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tree  of  the  garden  ?  Hath  he  created  this 
beauteous  world,  this  great  variety  of  creatures,  for  your  use  and  etijoy- 
ments,  and  made  these  delicious  fruits  which  he  himself  hath  pro- 
nounced good,  and  yet  forbidden  you  to  taste  of  them  ?  To  which  she 
replied,  We  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden  :  but  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath  said,  ye  shall  not 
eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die.  Upon  which  the  mali- 
cious tempted  boldly  presumed  to  give  the  lie  to  his  Maker.  Ye  shall 
not  sufely  die,  for  God  doth  knoiv  that  in  the  day  ye  eat  thereof  then 
your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  gods  knmoing  good  and 
evil.  And  when  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for  food,  and 
that  it  was  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  and  a  tree  to  be  desired  to  make  one 
wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof  and  did  eat,  and  gave  also  to  her  hus- 
band with  }ier,  and  he,  did  eat,  &c. 

i"  Thus  pride  and  sensuality  ruined  our  first  parents,  and  brought 
them  and'  their  posterity  into  a  state  of  mortality.  Thus  sin  entered 
into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin,  thus  was  human  nature  corrupted  at 
its  fountain ;  and  as  a  corrupt  tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit,  so  of 
consequence  the  children  of  guilty  Adam  must  be  corrupt  and  depraved. 
Any  one  who  will  make  the  least  reflection  on  his  own  mind,  may  soon 
be  convinced  of  this  great  truth,  that  not  only  the  body  is  weak  and 
infirm,  subject  to  divers  diseases,  liable  to  many  ill  accidents,  and  even 
to  death  itself,  but  also  the  superior  powers  of  the  soul  are  weakened  ; 
as  the  apostle  expresses  it, — at  enmity  with  God. 

"The  understanding,  which  was  designed  chiefly  to  be  exercised 
in  the  knowledge  and  contemplation  of  the  superior  Being,  is  dark- 
ened ;  nor  can  it,  without  the  Divine  assistance,  discern  the  radiant 
glories  of  the  Deity.  ArurMhough  it  should  naturally  press  after  truth, 


192  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

as  being  its  proper  object ;  yet  it  seldom,  and  not  without  great  diffi- 
culty, attains  to  the  knowledge  of  it ;  but  is  subject  to  ignorance,  which 
is  the  sin  of  the  understanding,  because  it  generally  proceeds  from  our 
natural  indisposition  to  search  after  truth.  Error  is  the  sin  or  defect 
of  the  judgment,  mistaking  one  thing  for  another,  not  having  clear  and 
distinct  apprehensions  of  things  ;  for  which  reason  it  is  frequently  guilty 
of  making  wrong  determinations.  Not  choosing  or  not  inclining  to 
good ;  or  adhering  to  and  preferring  evil  before  it,  is  the  sin  of  the  will. 
A  readiness  in  receiving  vain,  impure,  corrupt  ideas  or  images,  and  a 
backicardness  in  receiving  good  and  useful  ideas,  is  the  sin  of  the  ima- 
gination or  fancy :  and  a  facility  in  retaining  evil  and  vain  ideas,  and  a 
neglect  of,  or  a  readiness  to  let  slip  those  which  are  good,  is  the  sin  or 
defect  of  the  memory. 

"  Loving,  hating,  desiring,  fearing,  &c,  what  we  should  not  love, 
hate,  desire,  fear,  &c,  at  all  in  the  least  degree  ;  or  when  the  object  of 
such  passions  are  lawful,  to  love,  hate,  desire,  &c,  more  than  reason 
requires ;  or  else  not  loving,  hating,  desiring,  &c,  when  we  ought  to 
love,  hate,  desire,  &c ;  in  short,  any  error  either  in  defect  or  excess, 
either  too  much  or  too  little,  is  the  vice  or  sin  of  the  passions  or  affec- 
tions of  the  soul. 

"  Now  if  we  consider  the  infinite,  boundless,  incomprehensible  per- 
fections of  the  ever-blessed  God,  we  may  easily  conceive  that  evil,  that 
sin,  is  the  greatest  contradiction  imaginable  to  his  most  holy  nature  ; 
and  that  no  evil,  no  disease,  pain,  or  natural  uncleanness  whatever,  is 
so  hateful,  so  loathsome  to  us,  as  the  corruptions  and  imperfections  of 
the  soul  are  to  him.  He  is  infinite  purity  absolutely  separated  from 
all  mortal  imperfection.  The  divine  intellect  is  all  brightness,  all  per- 
fect ;  was  never,  and  can  never  be  capable  of  the  least  ignorance.  He 
is  TRUTH,  nor  can  he  be  weary  or  indisposed  in  contemplating  that 
great  attribute  of  his  most  perfect  nature  : .  but  has  a  constant  steady 
view  of  truth. 

"  And  as  he  fully  comprehends  at  once  all  things  past,  present,  and 
to  come  ;  so  all  objects  appear  to  him  simple,  naked,  undisguised  in 
their  natures,  properties,  relations,  and  ends,  truly  as  they  are  ;  nor  is 
it  possible  that  he  should  be  guilty  of  error  or  mistake  •  of  making  any 
false  judgment  or  wrong  determination. 

*'  He  is  goodness,  and  his  most  holy  will  cannot  swerve  or  decline 
from  what  is  so.  He  always  wills  what  is  absolutely  best ;  nor  can  he 
possibly  be  deceived  or  deceive  any  one. 

"  The  ideas  of  the  Divine  mind  are  amiable,  clear,  holy,  just,  good, 
useful ;  and  he  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity.  His  love, 
desire,  &c,  though  boundless,  immense,  and  infinite,  are  yet  regular, 
immutable,  always  under  the  direction  of  his  unerring  wisdom,  his 
unlimited  goodness,  and  his  impartial  justice. 

"  But  who  can  by  searching  find  out  God  ?  who  can  find  out  the 
Almighty  to  perfection  1  What  angel  is  worthy  to  speak  his  praise,  who 
dwolleth  in  the  inaccessible  light,  which  no  man  can  approach  unto  ? 
And  though  he  is  always  surrounded  by  thousands,  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  those  pure  and  happy  spirits  ;  yet  are  they  represented  to  us 
as  veiling  their  faces,  as  if  conscious  of  too  much  imperfection  and 


MK8.   SUSANNA  WESLEY.  193 

weakness  to  behold  his  glory.  And  if  he  charged  hia  angels  with  folly, 
and  those  stars  are  not  pure  in  his  sight ; — how  much  less  man  that  is 
a  worm,  and  the  son  of  man  that  is  a  worm  ? 

"  And  as  we  are  thus  corrupt  and  impure  by  nature  ;  so  are  we 
likewise  the  children  of  wrath,  and  in  a  state  of  damnation  ;  for  it  was 
not  only  a  temporal  death,  with  which  God  threatened  our  first  parents 
if  they  were  disobedient;  but  it  was  also  a  spiritual  death;  an  eternal 
separation  from  Him  who  is  our  life ;  the  consequence  of  which  sepa- 
ration is  our  eternal  misery. 

"  But  the  infinite  goodness  of  God,  who  delighteth  that  his  mercy 
should  triumph  over  his  justice,  though  he  provided  no  remedy  for  the 
fallen  angels  ;  yet  man  being  a  more  simple  kind  of  creature,  who 
perhaps  did  not  sin  so  maliciously  against  so  much  knowledge  as  those 
apostate  spirits  did  ;  he  would  not  suffer  the  whole  race  of  mankind  to 
be  ruined  and  destroyed  by  the  fraud  and  subtilty  of  Satan  :  but  he  laid 
help  upon  one  that  is  mighty,  that  is  able  and  willing  to  save  to  the 
uttermost  all  such  as  shall  come  unto  God  through  him.  And  this 
Saviour  was  that  seed  of  the  woman,  that  was  promised  should  bruise 
the  head  of  the  serpent,  break  the  power  of  the  devil,  and  bring  man- 
kind again  into  a  salvable  condition.  And  upon  a  view  of  that  satis- 
faction which  Christ  would  make  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  was 
the  penalty  of  Adam's  disobedience  suspended,  and  he  admitted  to  a 
second  trial ;  and  God  renewed  his  covenant  with  man,  not  on  the 
former  condition  of  perfect  obedience,  but  on  condition  of  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  a  sincere  though  imperfect  obedience  of  the  laws  of  God. 
I  will  speak  something  of  these  two  branches  of  our  duty  distinctly. 

"  By  faith  in  Christ  is  to  be  understood  an  assent  to  whatever  is 
recorded  of  him  in  Holy  Scripture  ;  or  is  said  to  be  delivered  by  him, 
either  immediately  by  himself,  or  mediately  by  his  prophets  and  apos- 
tles ;  or  whatever  may  by  just  inferences,  or  natural  consequences,  be 
collected  from  their  writings.  But  because  the  greater  part  of  mankind 
either  want  leisure  or  capacity  to  collect  the  several  articles  of  faith, 
which  lie  scattered  up  and  down  throughout  the  Sacred  Writ,  the  wisdom 
of  the  CHURCH  hath  thought  fit  to  sum  them  up  in  a  short  form  of 
words,  commonly  called  THE  APOSTLES'  CREED,  which,  because  it  com- 
prehends the  main  of  what  a  Christian  ought  to  believe,  I  shall  briefly 
explain  unto  you  :  and  though  I  have  not  time  at  present  to  bring  all 
the  arguments  I  could  to  prove  the  being  of  God,  his  divine  attributes, 
and  the  truth  of  revealed  religion  ;  yet  this  short  paraphrase  may 
inform  you  what  you  should  intend  when  you  make  the  solemn  con- 
fession of  our  most  holy  faith  ;  and  may  withal  teach  you  that  it  is  not  to 
be  said  after  a  formal  customary  manner,  but  seriously,  as  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  almighty  God,  who  observes  whether  the  heart  join  with 
the  tongue,  and  whether  your  mind  do  truly  assent  to  what  you  profess 
when  you  say, 

I  BELIEVE  IN  GOD. 

!  do  truly  and  heartily  assent  to  the  being  of  a  God,  one  supreme 
independent  power,  who  is  a  Spirit  infinitely  wise,  holy,  good,  just, 
true,  unchangeable. 


194  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

"  I  do  believe  that  this  God  is  a  necessary  self-existent  being  ; 
necessary,  in  that  he  could  not  but  be,  because  he  derives  his  existence 
from  no  other  than  himself,  but  he  always  is 

THE  FATHER. 

And  having  all  life,  all  being  in  himself,  all  creatures  must  derive  their 
existence  from  him ;  whence  he  is  properly  styled  the  Father  of  all 
things,  more  especially  of  all  spiritual  natures,  angels  and  souls  of  men  ; 
and  since  he  is  the  great  parent  of  the  universe,  it  naturally  follows 
that  he  is 

ALMIGHTY. 

And  this  glorious  attribute  of  his  omnipotence  is  conspicuous  in  that 
he  hath  a  right  of  making  any  thing  which  he  willeth,  after  that  manner 
which  best  pleaseth  him,  according  to  the  absolute  freedom  of  his  own 
will ;  and  a  right  of  possessing  all  things  so  made  by  him  as  he 
pleaseth  :  nor  can  his  almighty  infinite  power  admit  of  any  weakness, 
dependence,  or  limitation  ;  but  it  extendeth  to  all  things  ;  is  boundless, 
incomprehensible,  and  eternal.  And  though  we  cannot  comprehend, 
or  have  any  adequate  conceptions  of  what  so  far  surpasseth  the  reach 
of  human  understanding,  yet  it  is  plainly  demonstrable  that  he  is  omni- 
potent from  his  being  the 

MAKER  OF   HEAVEN   AND   EARTH, 

Of  all  things  visible :  nor  could  any  thing  less  than  almighty  power 
produce  the  smallest,  most  inconsiderable  thing  out  of  nothing.  Not 
the  least  spire  of  grass,  or  most  despicable  insect,  but  bears  the  divine 
signature,  and  carries  in  its  existence  a  clear  demonstration  of  the 
Deity.  For  could  we  admit  of  such  a  wild  supposition  as  that  any 
thing  could  make  itself,  it  must  necessarily  follow  that  a  thing  had  being 
before  it  had  a  being,  that  it  could  act  before  it  was,  which  is  a  palpa- 
ble contradiction  :  from  whence  among  other  reasons  we  conclude, 
that  this  beautiful  world,  that  celestial  arch  over  our  heads,  and  all 
those  glorious  heavenly  bodies,  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  &c,  in  fine,  the 
whole  system  of  the  universe,  were  in  the  beginning  made,  or  created 
out  of  nothing,  by  the  eternal  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  the  ever- 
blessed  God,  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will ;  or,  as  St.  Paul 
better  expresses  it,  Colos.  i,  16  :  *  By  him  were  all  things  created  that 
are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they 
be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers  :  all  things  were 
created  by  him.' 

AND  IN  JESUS. 

J&fois  signifies  a  Saviour ;  and  by  that  name  he  was  called  by  the  an- 
gel Gabriel  before  his  birth,  for  to  show  us  that  he  cume  into  the  world 
to  save  us  from  our  sins,  and  the  punishment  they  justly  deserve  ;  and 
to  repair  the  damage  human  nature  had  sustained  by  the  fall  of  Adam  ; 
that  as  in  Adam  all  died,  so  in  Christ  all  should  be  made  alive ;  and  so 
he  became  the  second  general  head  of  all  mankind.  And  as  he  was 
promised  to  our  parents  in  paradise ;  so  was  his  coming  signified  by 
the  various  types  and  sacrifices  under  the  law,  and  foretold  by  the 
prophets  long  before  he  appeared  in  the  world. 


dtas.    SUSANNA   WESLEY.  195 

"  And  this  Saviour,  this  Jesus,  was  the  promised  Messiah,  who  was 
so  long  the  hope  and  expectation  of  the  Jews,  the 

CHRIST, 

which  in  the  original  signifies  anointed.  Now  among  the  Jews  it  was 
a  custom  to  anoint  three  sorts  of  persons,  prophets,  priests,  and  kings  ; 
which  anointing  did  not  only  show  their  designation  to  those  offices, 
but  was  also  usually  attended  with  a  special  influence,  or  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  to  prepare  and  qualify  them  for  such  offices.  Our 
blessed  Lord,  who  was  by  his  almighty  Father  sanctified,  and  sent 
into  the  world,  was  also  anointed,,  not  with  material  oil,  but  by  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  him,  to  signify  to  us  that  he  was  our 
prophet,  priest,  and  king;  and  that  he  should  first,  as  our  PROPHET, 
fully,  clearly,  reveal  the  will  of  God  for  our  salvation,  which  accordingly 
he  did.  And  though  the  Jews  had  long  before  received  the  law  by 
Moses  ;  yet  a  great  part  of  that  law  was  purely  typical  and  ceremonial ; 
and  all  of  it  that  was  so  was  necessarily  vacated  by  the  corning  of  our 
Saviour :  and  that  part  which  was  moral,  and  consequently  of  perpe- 
tual obligation,  they  had  so  corrupted  by  their  misrepresentations  and 
various  traditions,  that  it  was  not  pure  and  undefiled,  as  God  delivered 
it  on  Mount  Sinai,  which  occasioned  the  words  of  our  Lord,  '  Think 
not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  I  am  not 
come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil  :'  to  accomplish  the  predictions  of  the 
prophets  concerning  himself;  and  to  rescue  the  moral  law  from  those 
false  glosses  they  had  put  on  it.  Though  the  rest  of  the  world  were  not 
altogether  without  some  precepts  of  morality  ;  yet  they  lay  scattered 
up  and  down,  in  the  writings  of  a  few  wiser  and  better  than  the  rest  : 
but  morality  was  never  collected  into  a  complete  system,  till  the  coming 
of  our  Saviour  ;  nor  was  life  and  immortality  brought  fully  to  light  till 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

"  He  was  also  our  PRIEST,  in  that  he  offered  up  himself  a  sacrifice 
(o  Divine  justice  in  our  stead ;  and  by  the  perfect  satisfaction  he  made, 
he  did  atone  the  displeasure  of  God,  and  purchase  eternal  life  for  us, 
which  was  forfeited  by  the  first  man's  disobedience. 

"  And  as  he  is  our  prophet  and  priest,  so  likewise  he  is  our  KING, 
and  hath  an  undoubted  right  to  govern  those  he  hath  redeemed  by  his 
blood ;  and  as  such  he  will  conquer  for  us  all  our  spiritual  enemies, 
sin  and  death,  and  all  the  powers  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness ;  and 
when  he  hath  perfectly  subdued  them,  he  will  actually  confer  upon  us, 
eternal  happiness.  This  satisfaction  and  purchase  that  Christ  hath 
made  for  us  is  a  clear  proof  of  his  divinity,  since  no  mere  man  is 
capable  of  meriting  any  thing  good  from  God ;  and  therefore  we  are 
obliged  to  consider  him  in  a  state  of  equality  with  the  Father,  being 

HI8   ONLY   SON. 


Though  we  are  all  children  of  the  almighty  Father,  yet  hath  be  one 


of  God,  Light  of  Light,  Very  God  of  Very  God  ;  begotten,  not 
And  this  only  Son  of  God  we  acknowledge  to  be 


196  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

OUR  LORD  ; 

In  that  he  is  co-equal  and  co-essential  with  the  Father,  and  by  him 
were  all  things  made.  Therefore  since  we  are  his  creatures,  we  must, 
with  the  Apostle  St.  Thomas,  confess  him  to  be  our  Lord  and  our  God. 
But  beside  this  right  to  our  allegiance,  which  he  hath  by  creation,  he 
hath  redeemed  us  from  death  and  hell,  and  he  hath  purchased  us  with 
his  own  blood :  so  that  upon  a  double  account,  we  justly  call  him  Lord, 
namely,  that  of  creation  and  purchase.  And  as  the  infinite  condescen- 
sion of  the  eternal  Son  of  God  in  assuming  our  nature  was  mysterious, 
and  incomprehensible,  surpassing  the  wisest  of  men  or  angels  to  con- 
ceive how  such  a  thing  might  be  ;  so  it  was  requisite  and  agreeable  to 
the  majesty  of  God,  that  the  conception  of  his  sacred  person  should  be 
after  a  manner  altogether  differing  from  ordinary  generations  ;  accord- 
ingly it  was  he 

WHICH   WAS  CONCEIVED   BY   THE  HOLY   GHOST  J 

Whose  miraculous  conception  was  foretold  by  the  angel,  when  his 
blessed  mother  questioned  how  she  who  was  a  virgin  could  conceive. 
The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  highest  shall 
overshadow  thee ;  therefore  also  that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of 
thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God.  And  as  all  the  sacrifices  which 
represented  our  Saviour  under  the  law,  were  to  be  without  spot  or 
blemish ;  so  likewise  Christ,  the  great  Christian  sacrifice,  was  not  only 
infinitely  pure  and  holy,  not  only  in  his  Divine,  but  also  in  his  human 
nature,  he  was  perfectly  immaculate,  having  none  but  God  for  his  Father, 
being 

BORN   OF   THE   VIRGIN   MARY, 

Whose  spotless  purity  no  age  of  the  catholic  Church  hath  presumed  to 
question.  That  the  promised  Messiah  should  be  born  of  a  virgin  is 
plain  from  Jer.  xxxi,  22,  '  The  Lord  hath  created  a  new  thing  upon 
the  earth  ;  a  woman  shall  compass  a  man.'  And  from  Isaiah  vii,  14, 
'  Behold  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his  name 
Immanuel.'  And  this  seed  of  the  woman  must  necessarily  have  as- 
sumed our  nature,  or  he  could  never  have  been  our  Jesus,  the  Saviour 
of  the  world ;  for  the  Divine  nature  of  the  Son  of  God  is  infinitely 
happy,  utterly  incapable  of  any  grief,  pain,  or  sense  of  misery.  Nor 
could  its  union  with  humanity  any  way  defile  or  pollute  it  or  derogate 
the  least  from  its  infinite  perfection;  so  it  was  only  as  man  that  he 

SUFFERED 

those  infirmities  and  calamities  incident  to  human  nature. 

"What  transactions  passed  between  the  almighty  Father  and  his 
eternal  Son  concerning  the  redemption  o£the  world  we  know  not :  but 
we  are  sure  that  by  an  express  agreement  between  them,  he  was  from 
eternity  decreed  to  suffer  for  mankind.  And  in  several  places  of  the 
Old  Testament  it  was  written  of  the  Son  of  man,  that  he  must  suffer 
many  things.  And  the  Spirit  of  Christ  that  was  in  the  prophets  testified 
before  hand  the  sufferings  of  Christ ;  particularly  in  Isaiah  liii,  we  have 


MRS.   SUSANNA    WESLET.  197 

a  sad,  but  clear,  description  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Messiah.  Indeed, 
his  whole  life  was  one  continual  scene  of  misery.  No  sooner  was  he 
born,  than  he  was  persecuted  by  Herod,  and  forced  to  flee  into  Egypt, 
in  the  arms  of  a  weak  virgin,  under  the  protection  of  a  foster-father. 
And  when  he  returned  into  his  own  country  he  for  thirty  years  lived  in 
a  low  condition,  probably  employed  in  the  mean  trade  of  a  carpenter, 
which  made  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  despicable,  of  no  reputation. 
And  when  after  so  long  an  obscurity  he  appeared  unto  men,  he  entered 
upon  his  ministry  with  the  severity  of  forty  days'  abstinence. 

"  Behold  the  eternal  Lord  of  nature  transported  into  a  wild  and 
desolate  wilderness,  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  air,  and  tempted 
by  the  apostate  spirits  ! 

"  The  almighty  Being,  who  justly  claims  a  right  to  the  whole 
creation,  was  himself  hungry,  and  athirst ;  often  wearied  with  painful 
travelling  from  place  to  place.  And  though  he  went  about  doing 
good ;  and  never  sent  any  one  away  from  him,  who  wanted  relief, 
without  healing  their  diseases,  and  casting  out  those  evil  spirits  which 
afflicted  them ;  yet  was  be  despised,  and  rejected  of  men !  The 
possessor  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  sovereign  disposer  of  all  things, 
from  whose  bounty  all  creatures  receive  what  they  enjoy  of  the 
necessary  accommodations  of  life,  was  reduced  to  such  a  mean  estate, 
that  the  foxes  had  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  had  nests,  yet  the 
Son  of  man  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head !  All  his  life  he  was  a  man  of 
sorrow,  and  acquainted  with  grief;  yet  his  greatest  sufferings  were 

UNDER   PONTIUS   PILATE, 

Who  was  at  that  time  the  Roman  governor  of  Judea  under  Tiberius, 
the  emperor  of  Rome.  His  office  was  that  of  a  procurator,  whose 
business  it  was  not  only  to  take  an  account  of  the  tribute  due  to  the 
emperor,  and  to  order  and  dispose  of  the  same  to  his  advantage ;  but 
by  means  of  the  seditious  and  rebellious  temper  of  the  Jews,  they  were 
farther  trusted  with  some  of  the  supreme  power  among  them  ;  a  power 
of  life  and  death,  which  was  a  signal  instance  of  Divine  providence, 
and  a  clear  proof  of  the  predictions  of  the  prophets,  which  had  long  be- 
fore foretold  that  the  Messiah  should  suffer  after  a  manner  that  was  not 
prescribed  by  the  law  of  Moses  :  and  this  circumstance  of  time  is  men- 
tioned, to  confirm  the  truth  of  our  Saviour's  history. 

"  And  now  behold  a  mysterious  scene  of  wonders  indeed !  The 
immaculate  Lamb  of  God,  who  came  to  save  the  world  from  misery, 
under  the  greatest,  most  amazing  apprehensions  of  his  approaching 
passion,  '  He  began  to  be  sorrowful,'  saith  St.  Matthew ;  '  To  be  sore 
amazed,  and  very  heavy,'  saith  St.  Mark.  His  soul  was  pressed  with 
fear,  horror,  and  dejection  of  mind  ;  tormented  with  anxiety,  and  dis- 
quietude of  spirit,  which  he  expressed  to  his  disciples  in  these  sad 
words,  '  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful  even  unto  death !'  See  him 
retire  to  a  solitary  garden  at  a  still  melancholy  hour  of  the  night.  Be- 
hold him  prostrate  on  the  ground,  conflicting  with  the  wrath  of  his 
almighty  Father.  He  perfectly  knew  what  God  is,  the  severe  purity 
of  the  Deity ;  and  was  absolutely  conformed  to  his  will. 

'•  He  knew  the  evil  of  sin  in  its  nature  and  consequences ;  the  perfect 


198  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

justice,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  of  the  Divine  laws.  He  understood 
the  inexpressible  misery  man  had  brought  upon  himself,  by  the  viola- 
tion of  them  ;  and  how  intolerable  it  would  be  for  man  to  sustain  the 
vengeance  of  an  angry  God.  And  perhaps  he  was  moved  with  extreme 
concern  and  pity,  when  he  foresaw  that  notwithstanding  all  he  had 
already  done,  and  was  then  about  to  suffer  for  his  salvation,  there  would 
be  so  many  that  would  obstinately  perish !  He  had  a  full  prospect  of  all 
he  had  yet  to  undergo ;  that  the  conflict  was  not  yet  over,  but  that  the 
dregs  of  that  bitter  cup  still  remained  ;  that  he  must  be  forsaken  of  his 
Father  in  the  midst  of  his  torments,  which  made  him  thrice  so  earnestly 
repeat  his  petition,  that  if  it  were  possible  that  cup  might  pass  from 
him.  But  the  full  complement  of  his  sufferings  we  may  suppose  to  be, 
he  did  at  that  time  actually  sustain  the  whole  weight  of  that  grief  and 
sorrow,  which  was  due  to  the  justice  of  God  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world.  And  this  we  may  believe  caused  that  inconceivable  agony, 
when  his  sweat  was  as  great  drops  of  blood  falling  to  the  ground. 

"  And  though  his  torments  were  so  inexpressibly  great,  yet  the  Son 
of  man  must  suffer  many  things.  He  must  be  betrayed  by  one  disciple, 
denied  by  another,  and  forsaken  by  all.  That  as  he  had  suffered  in 
his  soul  by  the  most  intense  grief  and  anguish,  so  he  had  to  suffer  in 
his  body  the  greatest  bitterness  of  corporeal  pains,  which  the  malice 
and  rage  of  his  enemies  could  inflict  upon  it.  And  now  the  sovereign 
Lord  and  Judge  of  all  men  is  haled  before  the  tribunal  of  his  sinful 
creatures.  The  pure  and  unspotted  Son  of  God  who  could  do  no 
wrong,  neither  could  guile  be  found  in  his  mouth,  accused  by  his  pre- 
sumptuous slaves  of  no  less  a  crime  than  blasphemy.  And  though  the 
witnesses  could  by  no  means  agree  together,  and  he  was  so  often  de- 
clared innocent  by  Pilate,  an  infidel  judge  ;  yet  still  the  rude  and  bar- 
barous rabble,  being  instigated  by  the  envy  and  malice  of  the  chief 
priests  and  elders,  persist  in  demanding  that  he  should  be  condemned. 

"  And  when,  in  compliance  with  their  usual  custom  of  having  a 
malefactor  released  at  their  feast,  Pilate  in  order  to  save  him  proposed 
his  release  instead  of  Barabbas,  who  was  a  seditious  murderer,  yet 
they  persisted  in  their  fury,  and  preferred  the  murderer  before  the 
Prince  of  life  and  glory ;  nor  would  they  be  satisfied  till  he 

WAS  CRUCIFIED, 

To  which  ignominious  death  the  Romans  commonly  condemned  their 
greatest  malefactors  ;  and  it  was  accounted  so  vile  and  so  shameful 
among  them,  that  it  was  deemed  a  very  high  crime  to  put  any  freeman 
to  death  after  such  a  dishonourable  manner  :  and  as  the  shame  was 
great,  so  it  was  usually  accompanied  with  many  previous  pains.  They 
were  first  cruelly  scourged  ;  and  then  compelled  to  bear  their  cross  on 
their  bleeding  wounds,  to  the  place  of  crucifixion  ;  all  which  the  meek 
and  patient  Jesus  underwent  cheerfully  for  his  love  toward  mankind. 
*  The  ploughers  ploughed  on  his  back,  and  made  long  their  furrows.' 
But  there  were'  other  painful  circumstances  which  attended  and  in- 
creased the  sufferings  of  our  Saviour.  They  had  not  only  accused 
him  of  blasphemy,  but  of  treason  and  sedition  :  '  We  found  this  fellow 
perverting  the  nation,  and  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,  saying 


MRS.   SUSANNA    WESLEY.  199 

that  he  himself  was  Christ,  a  king ;'  which,  as  it  moved  Pilate  to  con- 
temn him,  so  it  moved  the  rude  soldiers  to  insult  him  by  their  mock 
ensigns  of  royalty.  *  They  arrayed  him  in  a  purple  robe,  and  put  a  reed 
in  his  hand,  and  they  bowed  the  knee  before  him,  saying,  Hail,  king  of 
the  Jews.'  And  that  crown  of  thorns,  which  they  platted  and  put  on 
his  head,  not  only  expressed  the  scorn  of  his  tormentors,  but  did,  by 
the  piercing  of  his  sacred  temples,  cause  exquisite  pain.  That  blessed 
face,  which  angels  rejoice  to  behold,  they  buffetted  and  spit  upon  ;  nor 
was  any  circumstance  of  cruelty,  which  their  witty  malice  could  suggest 
to  torment  him,  omitted  by  those  inhuman  rebels,  till,  wearied  with  their 
own  barbarity,  and  impatient  of  his  living  any  longer,  they  put  his  own 
clothes  on  him  again,  and  led  him  away  to  crucifixion. 

"  And  now  let  us,  by  faith,  attend  our  Lord  to  his  last  scene  of 
misery.  Let  us  ascend  with  him  to  the  top  of  Mount  Calvary,  and  see 
with  what  cruel  pleasure  they  nail  his  hands  and  feet  to  the  infamous 
wood ;  which,  having  done,  they  raise  him  from  the  earth,  the  whole 
weight  of  his  body  being  sustained  by  those  four  wounds. 

"  But  though  the  corporeal  pains  occasioned  by  the  thorns,  the 
scourging,  by  the  piercing  those  nervous  and  most  sensible  parts  of 
his  most  sacred  body,  were  wrought  up  to  an  inexpressible  degree  of 
torture ;  yet  were  they  infinitely  surpassed  by  the  anguish  of  his  sou! 
when  there  was  (but  after  what  manner  we  cannot  conceive,  but  it  is 
certain  that  there  was,)  a  sensible  withdrawing  of  the  comfortable  pre- 
sence of  the  Deity,  which  caused  that  loud  and  impassioned  exclama- 
tion, My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !  And  now  it  is 
finished  :  the  measure  of  his  sufferings  is  completed  ;  and  he,  who 
could  not  die  but  by  his  own  voluntary  act  of  resigning  life,  gave  up  his 
pure  and  spotless  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  almighty  Father.  And 
though  stupid  man  could  look  insensibly  on  the  mysterious  passion  of 
his  blessed  Redeemer,  yet  nature  could  not  so  behold  her  dying  Lord, 
but  by  strong  commotions  expressed  her  sympathy. 

"  The  sun,  as  if  ashamed  and  astonished  at  the  barbarous  inhumanity 
and  ingratitude  of  man,  withdrew  his  influence ;  nor  would  he  display 
the  brightness  of  his  beams  when  the  great  Son  of  God  lay  under  the 
eclipse  of  death.  The  foundations  of  the  solid  earth  were  shaken,  the 
rocks  rent,  and  the^raves  were  opened  ;  and  the  vail  of  the  temple  was 
rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  ;  signifying  that  all,  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles,  have  free  admission  into  the  holy  of  holies,  into  the  haven 
of  presence,  through  the  blood  of  Jesus  ;  which  extorted  a  confession  of 
his  divinity  even  from  his  enemies ;  for  when  the  centurion  and  they  that 
were  with  him  watching  Jesus  saw  the  earthquake  and  those  things  that 
were  done,  they  feared  greatly,  saying,  Truly,  this  was  the  Son  of  God. 

"  Now,  though  crucifixion  does  not  involve  necessarily  in  it  certain 
death,  but  that  if  a  person  be  taken  from  the  cross  he  may  live ;  yet, 
since  it  is  evident  that  the  Messiah  was  to  die,  and  that  for  that  cause  he 
was  born  and  came  into  the  world  that  he  might,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
suffer  death  for  every  man,  so  we  are  bound  to  believe  that  he  was  truly 

DEAD; 

That  there  was  an  actual,  real  separation  of  his  soul  and  body. — And 
for  a  confirmation  of  this  article  it  is  added, — 


200  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

mi.- 

AND   BURIED  J 

And  as  his  death  was  foretold,  so  likewise  his  burial  was  typified  by 
the  Prophet  Jonah ;  for  as  he  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
belly  of  the  whale,  so  was  the  Son  of  man  three  days  and  three  nights 
in  the  heart  of  the  earth.  And  though  by  the  Roman  law  those  who 
were  crucified  were  not  allowed  the  favour  of  a  grave,  but  were  to  re- 
main on  the  cross,  exposed  to  the  fowls  of  the  air  and  the  beasts  of  the 
field ;  yet  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  magistrate  to  permit  a  burial ;  and 
the  providence  of  God  had  so  ordered  it,  that  those  very  persons  who 
had  caused  him  to  be  crucified,  should  petition  for  his  being  taken 
down  from  the  cross  :  for  the  law  of  Moses  required — that  '  if  a  man 
have  committed  a  sin  worthy  of  death,  and  thou  hang  him  on  a  tree, 
his  body  shall  not  remain  all  night  upon  the  tree,  but  thou  shall  in  any 
wise  bury  him  that  night.'  And  therefore  they  begged  of  Pilate  that 
the  body  should  be  taken  down  from  the  cross  ;  and  this  was  the  first 
step  toward  our  Saviour's  burial.  '  And  when  the  even  was  come, 
because  it  was  the  preparation,  that  is,  the  day  before  the  Sabbath, 
Joseph,  of  Arimathea,  an  honourable  counsellor,  which  also  waited  for 
the  kingdom  of  God,  came  and  went  in  boldly  to  Pilate,. and  craved  the 
body  of  Jesus.  And  he  gave  the  body  unto  Joseph  ;  and  he  brought 
fine  linen,  and  wrapped  him  in  the  linen,  and  laid  him  in  the  sepulchre 
which  was  hewn  out  of  a  rock,  wherein  never  man  before  was  laid ; 
and  rolled  a  stone  at  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  and  departed.' 

HE   DESCENDED   INTO   HELL. 

That  our  blessed  Lord  did  actually  descend  into  hell  seems  very  plain 
from  St.  Peter's  exposition  of  that  text  in  the  Psalms, — Thou  shalt  not 
leave  my  soul  in  hell,  neither  shalt  thou  suffer  thy  Holy  One  to  see  cor- 
ruption ;  when,  having  mentioned  this  passage,  he  thus  explains  it : — 
'He,  (that  is,  David,)  seeing  this  before,  (namely,  the  incarnation  of  the 
Son  of  God,)  spake  of  his  resurrection ;  that  his  soul  was  not  left  in 
hell,  neither  did  his  flesh  see  corruption  :'  which  is  a  clear  proof  that 
his  soul  did  really  descend  into  hell,  after  it  was  separated  from  his 
body.  But  though  he  underwent  the  condition  of  a  sinner  in  this  world, 
and  suffered  and  died  as  a  sinner  ;  yet  being  perfectly  holy,  and 
having,  by  virtue  of  the  union  of  the  Deity  to  his  human  nature,  fully 
satisfied  the  strictest  demands  of  Divine  justice,  we  are  not  to  suppose 
that  he  either  did  or  could  suffer  the  torments  of  the  damned  ;  therefore 
we  may  reasonably  conclude,  that  his  descent  into  hell  was  not  to  surfer, 
but  to  triumph  over  principalities  and  powers  ;  over  the  rulers  of  the 
kingdom  of  darkness,  in  their  own  sad  regions  of  horror  and  despair  : 
and  for  this  reason,  and  in  this  sense,  are  we  to  understand  his  descent 
into  hell.  And  as  his  soul  was  not  left  in  hell,  neither  did  his  flesh  see 
corruption  ;  but  having  by  his  own  almighty  power  loosed  the  pain  of 
death,  because  it  was  impossible  that  he  should  beholden  of  it, — 

THE   THIRD   DAY   HE   ROSE   AGAIN    FROM   THE   DEAD. 

Friday,  on  which  he  suffered,  and  the  first  day  of  the  week,  on  which 
be  rose,  being  included  in  the  number  of  the  three  days.  And  this  first 


MRS.   SUSANNA  WESLEY.  ..  201 

day  of  the  week  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians  have  ever  since 
observed  as  the  Sabbalh. 

"  That  as  the  Jews,  who  will  not  believe  in  any  greater  deliverance 
than  that  out  of  Egypt,  still  keep  the  seventh  day,  and  the  Turks  Fri- 
day, in  memory  of  Mohammed's  flight  from  Mecca,  whom  they  esteem 
a  greater  prophet  than  Christ  or  Moses  ;  so  all  Christians  are  distin- 
guished from  all  the  rest  of  the  world  by  their  observance  of  the  first 
day,  in  commemoration  of  our  Saviour's  rising  from  the  dead,  and  his 
finishing  the  great  work  of  man's  redemption  on  that  day. 

"  Thus,  we  believe  that  as  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  was  buried,  and 
rose  again  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures ;  so — 

HE   ASCENDED   INTO   HEAVEN. 

"  He  had  for  forty  days  after  his  resurrection  remained  upon  earth, 
during  whicTi  time  he  appeared  frequently  to  his  disciples,  ate  and 
drank  with  them,  showed  them  his  hands  and  his  feet,  which  visibly 
retained  the  marks  of  his  crucifixion,  to  convince  them  that  it  was  the 
same  body  which  was  nailed  to  the  cross  ;  that  it  was  the  same  Jesus 
which  suffered  for  our  offences,  that  was  raised  for  our  justification  ; 
and  that  by  his  so  doing  we  might  have  a  sure  and  certain  hope  of  our 
own  resurrection  from  the  dead.  And  when  he  had  spoken  to  his  dis- 
ciples and  blessed  them,  he  parted  from  them  and  ascended  into  the 
highest  heaven,  where  he  still  remainns, 

AND  SITTETH  ON   THE  RIGHT   HAND  OF  GOD,  THE  FATHER  ALMIGHTY. 

"  God  is  a  Spirit ;  nor  hath  he  any  body,  so  cannot  properly  be  said 
to  have  any  parts,  such  as  eyes,  ears,  hands,  &c,  as  we  see  bodies 
have  ;  therefore  we  may  suppose  that  the  right  hand  of  God  signifies 
his  exceeding  great  and  infinite  power  and  glory. 

"  And  Christ  is  said  to  sit  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God  in  regard 
of  that  absolute  power  and  dominion  which  he  hath  obtained  in  heaven, 
according  as  he  told  the  Jews, — '  Hereafter  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of 
man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  power.'  After  all  the  labour  and  sor- 
row, the  shame,  and  contempt,  and  torments,  he  suffered  in  this  world, 
he  resteth  above  in  a  permanent  state  of  endless  glory  and  unspeakable 
felicity ; — and 

FROM  THENCE  HE  SHALL  COME  TO  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD. 

"  All  that  shall  be  found  alive  at  his  coming,  as  well  as  those  that 
have  died  since  Adam,  shall  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ, 
to  be  by  him  judged  according  to  what  they  have  done  on  earth,  to  be 
by  him  determined  and  sentenced,  and  finally  disposed  to  their  eternal 
condition.  Those  that  have  done  well  he  shall  receive  into  everlasting 
habitations,  to  remain  for  ever  with  him  in  eternal  blessedness ;  and 
those  that  have  done  evil  he  shall  condemn  to  the  kingdom  of  darkness, 
there  to  remain  in  insupportable  misery  for  ever,  with  the  devil  and  his 
angels. 

"  "  And  as  we  must  thus  profess  to  believe  in  God  the  Father,  and 
in  Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son,  so  we  must  every  one  truly  and  heartily 
say,— 

26 


202  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

•• 

1   BELIEVE   IN   THE  HOLY   GHOST; 

"  That  he  is  a  person  of  a  real  and  true  subsistence,  neither  created 
nor  begotten,  but  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  the  Son : — true  and 
eternal  God,  who  is  essentially  holy  himself,  and  the  author  of  all  holi- 
ness in  us,  by  sanctifying  our  natures,  illuminating  our  minds,  rectifying 
our  wills  and  affections :  who  co-operateth  with  the  word  and  sacra- 
ments, and  whatever  else  is  a  mean  of  conveying  grace  into  the  soul. 
He  it  was  that  spoke  by  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and  it  is  he  who 
leadeth  us  into  all  truth.  He  helpeth  our  infirmities,  assures  us  of  our 

adoption,  and  will  be  with 

• 

THE   HOLY   CATHOLIC    CHURCH 

to  the  end  of  the  world.  The  catholic  Church  is  composed  of  all  con- 
gregations of  men  whatever,  who  hold  the  faith  of  Jesus  Qhrist  and  are 
obedient  to  his  laws,  wherein  the  pure  word  of  God  is  preached,  and 
the  sacraments  duly  delivered  by  such  ministers  as  are  regularly  con- 
secrated and  set  apart  for  such  ordinances,  according  to  Christ's  insti- 
tution. And  as  this  Church  is  called  holy  in  respect  of  its  auUior, 

Jesus, end,  glory  of  God,  and  salvation  of  souls,  institution  of 

the  ministry,  administration  of  the  sacraments,  preaching  of  the  pure 
word  of  God  ;  and  of  the  members  of  this  Church,  who  are  renewed 
and  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  united  to  Christ,  the  supreme 
head  and  governor  of  the  Church. 

"  It  is  styled  catholic,  because  it  is  not,  like  that  of  the  Jews, 
confined  to  one  place  and  people  ;  but  is  disseminated  through  all 
nations,  extendeth  throughout  all  ages,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
And  as  there  is  but  one  head  ;  so  the  members,  though  many,  are  one 
body*  united  together  by  the  same  spirit,  principally  by  the  three  great 
Christian  virtues,  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  For  as  we  hold  the  same 
principles  of  faith,  do  all  assent  to  the  same  truths  once  delivered  to 
the  saints  ;  so  have  we  the  same  hopes  and  expectations  of  eternal  life 
which  are  promised  to  all.  And  as  our  Lord  gave  the  same  mark  of 
distinction  to  all  his  disciples, — '  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are 
my  disciples  if  ye  love  one  another ;'  so  this  universal  love  which  is 
diffused  throughout  the  whole  body  of  Christ  is  the  union  of  charity  ; 
and  the  same  ministry  and  the  same  orders  in  the  Church  make  the 
unity  of  discipline.  But  since  Christ  hath  appointed  only  one  way  to 
heaven  ;  so  we  are  not  to  expect  salvation  out  of  the  Church  which  is 
called  catholic,  in  opposition  to  heretics  and  schismatics.  And  if  an 
angel  from  heaven  should  preach  any  other  doctrine  than  Christ  and  his 
apostles  have  taught,  or  appoint  any  other  sacraments  than  Christ  hath 
already  instituted,  let  him  be  accursed. 

"  And  as  the  mystical  union  between  Christ  and  the  Church,  and  the 
spiritual  conjunction  of  the  members  with  the  head,  is  the  fountain 
of  that  union  and  communion  which  the  saints  have  with  each  other,  as 
being  all  under  the  influence  of  the  same  head  ;  so  death,  which  only 
separates  bodies  for  a  time,  cannot  dissolve  the  union  of  minds  ;  and 
therefore  it  is  not  only  in  relation  to  the  saints  on  earth,  but  including 
also  those  in  heaven,  we  profess  to  hold 


MRS.   SUSANNA    WESLEY.  203 

THE   COMMUNION   Of    SAINTS. 

Accordingly  we  believe  that  all  saints,  as  well  those  on  earth  as  those 
in  heaven,  have  communion  with  God,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost ;  with  the  blessed  angels,  who  not  only  join  in  devotion  with  the 
Church  triumphant  above,  but  are  likewise  sent  forth  to  minister  to 
those  who  are  the  heirs  of  salvation  while  they  remain  in  this  world. 
And  perhaps  we  do  not  consider  as  we  ought  to  do,  how  much  good 
we  receive  by  the  ministration  of  the  holy  angels ;  nor  are  we  suffi- 
ciently grateful  to  those  guardian  spirits  that  so  often  put  by  ill  acci- 
dents, watch  over  us  when  we  sleep,  defending  us  from  the  assaults  of 
evil  men  and  evil  angels.  And  if  they  are  so  mindful  of  our  preserva- 
tion in  this  world,  we  may  suppose  them  much  more  concerned  for 
our  eternal  happiness  :  '  There  is  joy  among  the  angels  in  heaven  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth  :' — they  are  present  in  our  public  assemblies, 
where  we  in  a  more  especial  manner  hold  communion  with  them  ;  and 
it  is  there  we  join  with  all  the  company  of  the  heavenly  host  in  praising 
and  admiring  the  supreme  Being  whom  we  jointly  adore.  What 
knowledge  the  saints  in  heaven  have  of  things  or  persons  in  this  world 
we  cannot  determine,  nor  after  what  manner  we  hold  communion  with 
them  it  is  not  at  present  easy  to  conceive. 

"  That  we  are  all  members  of  the  same  mystical  body  of  Christ  we 
are  very  sure  ;  and  do  all  partake  of  the  same  vital  influence  from  the 
same  head,  and  so  we  are  united  together  ;  and  though  we  are  not 
actually  possessed  of  the  same  happiness  which  they  enjoy,  yet  we  have 
the  same  Holy  Spirit  given  unto  us  as  an  earnest  of  our  eternal  felicity 
with  them  hereafter.  And  though  their  faith  is  consummated  by  vision, 
and  their  hope  by  present  possession,  yet  the  bond  of  Christian  charity 
still  remains  ;  and  as  we  have  great  joy  and  complacency  in  their  feli- 
city, so  no  doubt  they  desire  and  pray  for  us. 

"With  the  saints  on  earth  we  hold  communion  by  the  word  and 
sacraments,  by  praying  with  and  for  each  other;  and  in  all  acts  of 
public  or  private  worship  we  act  upon  the  same  principles  and  the 
same  motives,  having  the  same  promises  and  hopes  of 

THE   FORGIVENESS   OF   SINS, 

Through  Jesus  Christ,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  who  gave 
his  life  a  sacrifice  by  way  of  compensation  and  satisfaction  to  Divine 
justice,  by  which  God  became  reconciled  to  man,  and  cancelled  the 
obligation  which  every  sinner  lay  under  to  suffer  eternal  punishment ; 
and  he  hath  appointed  in  his  Church  baptism  for  the  first  remission,  and 
repentance  for  the  constant  forgiveness  of  all  following  trespasses. 
And  now  have  we  confidence  toward  God,  that  not  only  our  souls  shall 
be  freed  from  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  sin  by  faith  in  Jesus  :  but 
also  our  bodies  may  rest  in  hopes  of 

THE   RESURRECTION   OF   THE   BODY, 

That  the  same  almighty  power  which  raised  again  our  blessed  Lord, 
after  he  had  lien  three  days  in  the  grave,  shall  again  quicken  our  mortal 
bodies  ;  shall  reproduce  the  same  individual  body  that  slept  in  the  dust, 
and  vitally  unite  it  to  the  same  soul  which  informed  it  while  on  earth, 


204  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

The  hour  is  coming  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  grave  shall  hear  his 
voice,  and  come  forth  ;  '  they  that  have  done  good  to  the  resurrection 
of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation,' 
John  v,  28,  29.  '  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  that  were  in  it,  and 
death  and  hell  (that  is,  the  grave)  delivered  up  the  dead  that  were  in 
them,'  Rev.  xx,  13.  There  shall  be  a  general  rendezvous  of  every 
particular  atom  which  composed  the  several  bodies  of  men  that  ever 
lived  in  the  world ;  and  each  shall  be  restored  to  its  proper  owner,  so 
as  to  make  the  same  numerical  body,  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  &c, 
which  was  dissolved  at  death.  And  though  the  bodies  of  saints  shall 
be  glorified  heavenly  bodies ;  yet  they  shall  be  of  the  same  consistence 
and  figure,  but  only  altered  and  changed  in  some  properties.  And 
though  at  the  first  view  it  may  seem  hard  to  conceive  how  those  bodies 
which  have  suffered  so  many  various  transmutations,  have  either  been 
buried  in  the  earth,  devoured  by  beasts,  consumed  by  fire,  or  swallowed 
up  in  the  sea,  have  been  dissolved  into  the  smallest  atoms,  and  those 
atoms  perhaps  scattered  throughout  the  world,  have  fructified  the  earth, 
fed  the  fishes,  and  by  that  means  become  the  food  of  animals  and  other 
men,  and  a  part  of  their  nourishment,  till  at  last  the  same  particles  of 
matter  belong  to  several  bodies :  how,  I  say,  the  same  numerical 
atoms  should  at  last  rally  and  meet  again,  and  be  restored  to  the  first 
owner,  make  up  again  the  same  first  body,  which  so  long  since  was 
consumed,  may  seem  difficult,  if  not  altogether  impossible,  to  determine. 

But  since  God  hath  declared  that  he  will  raise  the  dead,  we  have  no 
manner  of  reason  to  question  whether  he  can  do  it,  since  Omnipotence 
knows  no  difficulty :  and  that  almighty  power  which  first  made  us  of 
nothing,  out  of  no  pre-existing  matter,  can  easily  distinguish,  and 
perceive,  and  unmix  from  other  bodies,  our  scattered  atoms,  and  can 
re-collect  and  unite  them  again,  how  far  soever  they  may  be  dispersed 
asunder.  He  can  observe  the  various  changes  they  undergo  in  their 
passages  through  other  bodies ;  and  can  so  order  it,  that  they  shall 
never  become  any  part  of  their  nourishment ;  or  if  they  should  be 
adopted  into  other  men,  he  can  cause  them  to  yield  them  up  again 
before  they  die,  that  they  may  be  restored  to  their  right  owners ;  and 

having  collected  these particles,  he  can  readily  dispose  them 

into  the  same  order — rebuild  the  same  beauteous  fabric,  consisting  of 
the  same  flesh  and  bones,  nerves,  veins,  blood,  &c,  and  all  the  several 
parts  it  had  before  its  dissolution  ;  and  by  reuniting  it  to  the  same  soul, 
make  the  same  living  man. 

"  But  though  the  body  shall  be  in  substance  the  same  after  its  resur- 
rection as  it  was  before  its  death ;  yet  it  shall  greatly  differ  in  its 
qualities.  '  It  was  sown  in  corruption,  it  shall  be  raised  in  incorruption ; 
it  is  sown  in  dishonour,  it  is  raised  in  glory ;  it  is  sown  in  weakness, 
it  is  raised  in  power ;  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual 
body.'  They  shall  not  retain  the  same  principles  of  corruption  and 
mortality  which  they  had  before  ;  they  shafi  never  die.  The  bodies  of 
the  damned  shall  eternally  remain  in  the  most  inconceivable  torments ; 
while  those  of  the  blessed  shall  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air  when  he 
comes  to  judgment,  and  afterward:  ascend  with  him  into  heaven,  there 
to  enjoy 


MRS.   SUSANNA   Wr.SI.ET. 
THE    LIFE   EVERLASTING. 

By  everlasting  life  is  not  only  meant  that  we  shall  die  no  more  ;  for  in 
this  sense  the  damned  shall  have  everlasting  life  as  well  as  the  saints  : 
they  shall  always  have  a  being,  though  in  intolerable  torments  ;  which 
is  infinitely  worse  than  none  at  all. 

"  But  we  are  to  understand  by  the  life  everlasting  a  full  and  perfect 
enjoyment  of  solid  inexpressible  joy  and  felicity, — Eye  hath  not  seen, 
nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive, 
what  God  hath  prepared  for  those  that  love  him. 

"  The  soul  shall  be  perfectly  sanctified,  nor  shall  it  be  possible  to 
sin  any  more.  All  its  faculties  shall  be  purified  and  exalted :  the 
understanding  shall  be  filled  with  the  beatific  vision  of  the  adorable 
Trinity ;  shall  be  illuminated,  enlarged,  and  eternally  employed  and 
satisfied  in  the  contemplation  of  the  sublimest  truths.  Here  we  see  as 
in  a  glass, — have  dark  and  imperfect  perceptions  of  God :  but  there 
we  shall  behold  him  as  he  is,  shall  know  as  we  are  known.  Not  that 
we  shall  fully  comprehend  the  Divine  nature,  as  he  doth  ours ;  that  is 
impossible ;  for  he  is  infinite  and  incomprehensible,  and  we  though  in 
heaven  shall  be  finite  still ;  but  our  apprehension  of  his  being  and  per- 
fections shall  be  clear,  just,  and  true.  We  shall  see  him  as  he  is :  shall 
never  be  troubled  with  misapprehensions  or  false  conceptions  of  him 
more  :  those  dark  and  mysterious  methods  of  Providence  which  here 
puzzle  and  confound  the  wisest  heads  to  reconcile  them  with  his  justice 
and  goodness  shall  be  there  unriddled  in  a  moment;  and  we  shall 
clearly  perceive  that  all  the  evils  which  befall  good  men  in  this  life  were 
the  corrections  of  a  merciful  Father ;  that  the  furnace  of  affliction, 
which  now  seems  so  hot  and  terrible  to  nature,  had  nothing  more  than 
a  lambent  flame,  which  was  not  designed  to  consume  us ;  but  only  to 
purge  away  our  dross,  to  purify  and  prepare  the  mind  for  its  abode 
among  those  blessed  ones  that  passed  through  the  same  trials  before 
us  into  the  celestial  paradise.  And  we  shall  for  ever  adore  and  praise 
that  infinite  power  and  goodness  which  safely  conducted  the  soul 
through  the  rough  waves  of  this  tempestuous  ocean  to  the  calm  haven 
of  peace  and  everlasting  tranquillity.  Nor  shall  we  have  the  same 
sentiments  there  which  we  had  here  :  but  shall  clearly  discern  that  our 
afflictions  here  were  our  choicest  mercies.  Our  wills  shall  no  longer 
be  averse  from  God's,  but  shall  be  for  ever  lost  in  that  of  our  blessed 
Creator's.  No  conflicts  with  unruly  passions ;  no  pain  or  misery  shall 
ever  find  admittance  into  that  heavenly  kingdom. 

"  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  our  eyes ;  and  there  shall  be 
no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying ;  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain,  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away;  when  we  shall 
hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more ;  neither  shall  the  sun  light 
upon  us,  nor  any  heat ;  for  the  Lamb  who  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne 
shall  feed  us,  and  shall  lead  us  unto  living  fountains  of  water.  Far 
be  from  us  to  think  that  the  grace  of  God  can  be  purchased  with  any 
thing  less  precioue  than  the  BI.OOD  of  JESUS  :  but  if  it  could,  who  that 
has  the  lowest  degree  of  faith  would  not  part  with  all  things  in  this 
world  to  obtain  that  love  for  our  dear  Redeemer  which  we  so  long  for, 


206  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

and  sigh  after.  Here  we  cannot  watch  one  hour  with  Jesus,  without 
weariness,  failure  of  spirits,  dejection  of  mind,  worldly  regards  which 
damp  our  devotions,  and  pollute  the  purity  of  our  sacrifices. 

"  What  Christian  here  does  not  often  feel  and  bewail  the  weight  of 
corrupt  nature ;  the  many  infirmities  which  molest  us  in  our  way  to 
glory  ?  And  how  difficult  is  it  to  practise  as  we  ought  that  great  duty 
of  self-denial ;  to  take  up  our  cross,  and  follow  the  Captain  of  our 
salvation,  without  ever  repining  or  murmuring  1  If  shame  or  confusion 
could  enter  those  blessed  mansions, — how  would  our  souls  be  ashamed 
and  confounded  at  the  review  of  our  imperfect  services,  when  we  see 
them  crowned  with  such  an  unproportionable  reward?  How  shall  we 
blush  to  behold  that  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory,  that  is 
conferred  upon  us  for  that  little,  or  rather  nothing,  which  we  have 
done  or  suffered  for  our  Lord  ?  That  God  who  gave  us  being,  that 
preserved  us,  that  fed  and  clothed  us  in  our  passage  through  the 
world  ;  and  what  is  infinitely  more,  that  gave  his  only  Son  to  die  for  us  ; 
and  has  by  his  grace  purified  and  conducted  us  safe  to  his  glory ! 

"  0,  blessed  GRACE  !  mysterious  love  !  how  shall  we  then  adore  and 
praise  what  we  cannot  here  apprehend  aright !  How  will  love  and  joy 
work  in  the  soul !  But  I  cannot  express  it,  I  cannot  conceive  it. 

"  I  have  purposely  omitted  many  arguments  for  the  being  of  God, 
the  Divine  authority  of  Scripture,  the  irulh  of  revealed  religion,  or 
future  judgment.  The  last  article  I  have  left  very  imperfect,  because 
I  intend  to  write  on  all  these  subjects  for  the  use  of  my  children  when 
I  have  more  leisure.  I  shall  only  add  a  few  words  to  prepare  your 
mind  for  the  second  part  of  my  discourse,  Obedience  to  the  Laws  of 
God,  which  I  shall  quickly  send  you. 

"  As  the  defilement  of  our  natures  is  the  source  and  original  of  all 
our  actual  iniquities  and  transgressions  of  the  laws  of  God ;  so  the 
first  regular  step  we  can  take  toward  amendment  is  to  be  deeply  sensible 
of,  grieved  and  humbled  for,  our  original  sin.  And  though  (1  believe) 
the  damning  guilt  of  that  sin  is  washed  away  by  baptism,  by  those  who 
die  before  they  are  capable  of  known  and  actual  transgressions ;  yet 
experience  shows  us  that  the  power  of  it  does  still  survive  in  such  as 
attain  to  riper  years ;  and  this  is  what  the  apostle  complains  of  in 
Romans  vii. 

"  This  is  the  carnal  nature ;  that  law  in  our  members,  which  wars 
against  the  law  of  the  mind,  and  brings  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin. 

"  And  when  the  work  of  conversion  or  regeneration  is  begun  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  yet  still  corrupt  nature  maintains  a  conflict  with  Divine 
grace :  nor  shall  this  enemy  be  entirely  conquered,  till  death  shall  be 
swallowed  up  of  victory  ;  till  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortality. 

"  I  cannot  tell  whether  you  have  ever  seriously  considered  the  lost 
and  miserable  condition  you  are  in  by  nature :  if  you  have  not,  it  is 
high  time  to  begin  to  do  it ;  and  I  shall  earnestly  beseech  the  Al- 
mighty to  enlighten  your  mind,  to  renew  and  sanctify  you  by  his  Holy 
Spirit,  that  you  may  be  his  child  by  adoption  here,  and  an  heir  of  his 
blessed  kingdom  hereafter  ! 

«  S.  W." 

Epworth,  Jan.  13,  1709-10. 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLEV.  207 

I  believe  this  exposition  of  the  Creed  to  be  entirely  original ;  arid 
that  it  contains  many  fine  passages  and  just  definitions,  every  careful 
reader  will  at  once  discern.  The  introduction  is  excellent  ;  as  is  also 
what  she  says  on  Almighty — Christ — Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate — 
Crucified — Catholic  Church — Communion  of  Saints — Resurrection — 
and  the  Life  Everlasting.  Of  our  Lord's  descent  into  hell  she  speaks 
as  commentators  in  general  do.  On  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness  of  sins 
she  will  be  found  less  satisfactory  than  on  most  other  points  :  she  was 
much  better  acquainted  with  this  doctrine  afterward. 

Under  the  article  Holy  Ghost  she  not  only  shows  that  it  is  by  his 
influence  that  the  soul  is  enlightened,  and  the  heart  purified,  and  that 
his  continual  co-operation  with  the  word  and  sacramtnts  is  necessary 
in  order  to  make  them  effectual ;  but  she  also  hints  at  that  doctrine 
which  her  sons  preached  with  such  great  unction  and  success,  and 
which  is  a  standard  article  in  the  creed  of  every  Methodist,  viz.  The 
doctrine  of  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  in  the  souls  of  genuine  believers. 
Her  words  are  strong  and  pointed.  "  It  is  he  that  leadeth  us  into  all 
truth.  He  helpeth  our  infirmities,  assures  its  of  our  adoption,  and  will 
be  with  the  holy  catholic  Church  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

Where  she  touches  upon  them,  she  does  not  make  the  necessary 
distinction  between  justification  and  sanctification  ;  but  in  effect  con- 
founds them,  as  did  most  of  the  writers  in  that  and  the  preceding  age. 
Nor  have  I  met  with  the  proper  definition  of  each,  and  its  description  as 
a  separate  independent  work,  but  in  the  writings  of  Mr.  John  Wesley 
and  the  Methodists.  Justification,  as  implying  an  act  of  God's  infinite 
mercy,  blotting  out  the  guilt  of  sin  on  account  of  the  sacrificial  offer- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ ; — and  sanctification,  as  implying  the  purification 
of  the  heart  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; — must  necessarily  be 
distinct :  and  in  no  case  does  the  pardon  of  guilt  necessarily  imply  the 
total,  nor  indeed  partial,  destruction  of  the  nature  and  in-being  of  sin. 
From  the  conclusion  of  this  exposition  we  find  Mrs.  Wesley  adopt- 
ing an  article  not  in  the  crted  itself,  but  which  is  in  most  people's  creeds 
at  present,  viz.  "  that  inward  sin  will  not  be  destroyed  till  death."  A 
more  popular  and  a  more  uncomfortable  article  never  entered  into  tho 
composition  of  any  creed.  The  Methodists  believe  and  teach,  that  by 
the  power  of  God  sin  may  be  destroyed  in  a  moment :  and  that  there 
is  no  need  of  death  to  save  from  sin,  when  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord  clcansethfrom  all  unrighteousness.  Since  the  whole  salvation  of 
man  comes  through  the  blood  of  the  cross,  there  can  be  no  necessity  to 
wait  till  death  separates  soul  and  body,  to  have  sin  separated  from  tho 
soul.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  man  at  all  times  "  perfectly  to  love  God, 
and  worthily  to  magnify  his  name  :"  but  this  can  never  be  done  till  the 
very  thoughts  of  the  heart  are  cleansed  by  the  inspiration  of  God's  Holy 
Spirit.  God,  therefore,  who  has  made  it  our  duty  thus  to  love  and 
magnify  him,  is  every  moment  willing  to  confer  on  the  justified  soul 
that  grace  by  which  alone  it  can  thus  love  and  magnify  him.  There  is 
not  one  text  in  the  Bible,  fairly  and  honestly  understood,  that  says  we 
cannot  be  cleansed  from  all  sin  till  we  come  to  die  ;  and  there  is  not 
one  promise  in  the  Bible  that  we  shall  be  made  holy  in  the  article  of 
death.  But  this  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  doctrines  ;  yet  I  thought  it 


208  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

necessary  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  preceding  articles,  lest  any 
should  suppose  that  all  the  sentiments  in  this  (in  the  main)  excellent 
exposition  of  the  Creed  were  those  of  the  Methodist  body.  In  this 
respect  also  Mrs.  Wesley  saw  clearer  before  she  died. 

In  the  conclusion,  she  promises  her  daughter  a.  second  part,  or  Obe- 
dience to  the  Laios  of  God ;  that  a  right  faith  might  be  accompanied 
with  a  suitable  holy  practice.  This  part  I  have  not  seen  :  but  as  it 
was  to  contain  farther  proof  of  the  being  of  G6d,  and  the  authenticity  of 
Divine  revelation,  I  suppose  her  meditations  and  rejections  contained 
the  heads  of  it.  Dr.  Whitehead  has  preserved  some  of  these  in  his 
Life  of  Mr.  Wesley.  I  have  several  others  in  her  own  handwriting,  in 
my  own  collection,  which  I  shall  insert  as  the  only  substitute  for  the 
second  part  above  promised. 

Though  Mrs.  Wesley  had  always  lived  a  strictly  religious  life  ;  fear- 
ing God,  and,  according  to  her  age  and  light,  working  righteousness ; 
yet  as  she  found  family  cares  accumulating,  she  found  also  the  neces- 
sity of  more  grace  to  enable  her  to  act  her  part  well  in  those  new  and 
trying  relations  of  wife  and  mother.  When  she  was  thirty  years  of  age, 
or  about  the  year  1700,  she  formed  the  resolution  to  spend  an  hour 
morning  and  evening  in  private  retirement  and  devotion.  In  this  she 
acted  from  a  deep  sense  both  of  its  propriety  and  necessity  ;  and  was 
ever  after  faithful  to  her  engagement ;  suffering  nothing  to  break  in  on 
those  consecrated  hours,  but  what  arose  from  absolute  necessity,  and 
was  therefore  unavoidable. 

Those  who  imagine  they  can  encounter  the  cares  of  life  with  just  the 
same  measure  of  grace  which  was  sufficient  for  them  in  a  single  state, 
will  find  themselves  greatly  mistaken.  For  to  every  situation  in  life 
peculiar  and  suitable  grace  is  requisite.  Most  new-married  people,  even 
among  those  who  are  religious,  think  nothing  of  this.  Hence  it  is  often 
found  that  the  new-married  pair  soon  decline  in  the  divine  life  ;  and 
instead  of  getting  forward,  either  go  halting  in  the  heavenly  road,  or 
turn  back  to  the  world.  Mrs.  Wesley  was  fully  aware  of  this,  and  pro- 
vided timely  against  the  evil. 

Perhaps  the  reader,  if  personally  concerned,  will  also  lay  the  subject 
to  heart. 

From  Mrs.  Wesley's  private  papers  I  find  that  not  only  morning  and 
evening,  but  noonday,  had  its  time  of  private  devotion.  In  her  retire- 
ment, when  the  world  and  worldly  cares  were  shut  out,  and  her  mind 
was  at  full  liberty  to  converse  with  itself  and  with  its  Maker,  she  thought 
deeply  on  many  subjects  connected  with  her  spiritual  profiting,  and 
often  wrote  down  her  thoughts.  These,  in  several  cases,  she  digested 
into  discourses  and  letters  for  the  benefit  of  her  family.  I  shall  make 
no  apology  for  laying  before  the  reader  several  examples  taken  from  her 
own  manual.  In  the  original  there  are  no  dates. 

MORNING. 

"  Such  a  time  devoted.  Whenever  company  or  business  inclines 
you  to  quit  your  retirement,  and  either  to  ornit  or  cursorily  perform 
accustomed  exercises  ;  and  you,  instead  of  resisting,  comply  with  such 
inclinations,  you  may  observe  that  you  are  always  guilty  of  some  sin  01 


MRS.   SUdAHflA   WESLEY.  209 

trror,  that  upon  reflection  gives  you  more  pain  than  the  profit  or  plea- 
sure gave  you  satisfaction.  Therefore,  make  it  your  care  to  conquer 
your  inclination  to  any  company  at  such  times :  nor  let  any  trivial 
business  divert  you  ;  for  na  business,  unless  it  cannot  be  laid  aside  or 
suspended,  without  sin,  can  be  of  equal,  much  less  of  greater,  import- 
ance, than  caring  for  the  soul." 

EVENING. 

"  That  man  who  will  readily  believe  an  ill  report  of  you  never  was, 
or  at  least  is  not  now,  your  friend.  Seneca,  a  Heathen,  could  say, '  In 
some  cases  I  will  not  believe  a  man  against  himself.  I  will  give  him, 
however,  time  to  recollect  himself:  nay,  sometimes,  I  will  allow  him 
counsel  too.'  But  Christians,  bad  Christians,  are  rarely  so  candid.  He 
is  a  friend  indeed,  who  is  proof  against  calumny  :  but  he  is  a  rare 
Christian  that  will  not  believe  a  man  against  himself. 

"  This  is  eternal  life  to  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  thou  hast  sent.  But  what  is  it  to  know  God  ?  Or,  what  is  that 
knowledge  of  God  on  which  eternal  life  depends  ?" 

NOON. 

"  What  can  human  reason  do,  or  how  far  can  the  light  of  reason 
direct  us  to  find  out  the  knowledge  of  the  Most  High  1  From  the  pri- 
mordials  of  the  universe  we  collect  that  there  is  one  supreme,  eternal, 
consequently  self-existent,  Being,  who  gave  being  to  all  things  :  since 
to  act  presupposes  existence  ;  for  nothing  can  act  before  it  be.  That 
this  being  must  possess,  by  way  of  eminence,  all  the  perfections  we 
discern  in  the  creatures,  reason  tells  us  :  for  nothing  can  impart  that  to 
another,  which  it  has  not  to  impart." 

EVENING. 

"  And  as  creation  demonstrates  omnipotence ;  so  that  infers  wis- 
dom, justice,  truth,  purity,  goodness,  &c.  For  all  these  perfections 
are  intellectual  powers  ;  and  were  God  deficient  in  one,  he  could  not 
be  omnipotent.  That  he  is  a  Spirit  unbodied,  undetermined,  immense, 
filling  heaven  and  earth,  all  the  imaginary  spaces  beyond  them  ; — most 
simple,  (pure,)  uncompounded,  and  absolutely  separated  and  free  from 
whatever  pollution  a  spirit  is  capable  of  being  defiled  with  ; — immuta- 
ble, incapable  of  change  or  alteration  for  the  better  or  worse  ; — per- 
fectly free,  knowing  no  superior,  no  equal,  that  may  impel,  allure,  or 
persuade  hirn,  but  acting  always  spontaneously  according  to  the  coun- 
sel  of  hia  own  will, — we  may  discover  by  the  light  of  nature." 

MORNING. 

"  This  is  to  know  God,  as  a  man,  as  a  reasonable  creature :  but  this 
is  not  //"//  knowledge  that  leadeth  us  to  eternal  life.  That  is  a  know- 
ledge of  another  kind :  the  one  we  attain  in  a  scientifical  method,  by  a 
long  train  of  arguments,  for  which  the  bulk  of  mankind  want  either 
capacity  or  leisure ;  the  oilier,  by  frequent  and  fervent  application  to 
God  in  prayer.  The  one  \a  an  effect  of  reason  assisted  by  human 
learning,  peculiar  to  a  few  of  the  more  noble-  and  refined  sense  :- 

27 


210  OF  MR.  WESLEY'*  ANCESTORS. 

perceived,  known  to  the  understanding  as  the  Creator,  Preserver,  and 
Governor  of  the  universe.  The  other  is  reason  acting  by  the  influence 
and  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit : — God  known  to  the  heart,  the  will, 
and  its  affection,  not  merely  as  the  author  of  our  being,  but  as  he  is  ex- 
hibited to  us  under  the  character  of  the  healer  and  repairer  of  the  lapse 
and  misery  of  human  nature  ;  a  Saviour,  him  whom  our  soul  loveth." 

NOON. 

"  To  know  God  only  as  a  philosopher :  to  have  the  most  sublime 
and  curious  speculations  concerning  his  essence,  his  attributes,  his 
providence  ;  to  be  able  to  demonstrate  his  being  from  all  or  any  of  the 
works  of  nature ;  and  to  discourse  with  the  greatest  elegancy  and  pro- 
priety of  words,  of  his  existence  or  operations ;  will  avail  us  nothing, 
unless  at  the  same  time  we  know  him  experimentally ;  unless  the  heart 
perceive  and  know  him  to  be  its  supreme  good,  its  only  happiness : 
unless  the  soul  feel  and  acknowledge  that  she  can  find  no  repose,  no 
peace,  no  joy,  but  in  loving,  and  being  beloved  by  him ;  and  does  ac- 
cordingly rest  in  him  as  the  centre  of  her  being,  the  fountain  of  her 
pleasure ;  the  origin  of  all  virtue  and  goodness  ;  her  light,  her  life,  her 
strength,  her  all ;  every  thing  she  wants  or  wishes  in  this  world,  and  for 
ever ! — In  a  word,  HER  LORD,  HER  GOD  ! 

f  Thus,  let  me  ever  know  thee,  0  God !  I  do  not  despise  nor  neglect 
the  light  of  reason,  nor  that  knowledge  of  thee  which  by  her  conduct 
may  be  collected  from  this  goodly  system  of  created  beings :  but  this 
speculative  knowledge  is  not  the  knowledge  I  want  and  wish  for.'* 

MORNING. 

•'  It  is  very  likely  that  your  humour  last  night  was  rather  the  effect  of 
fancy  and  passion  than  of  a  clear  sound  judgment.  If  otherwise — why 
did  you  feel  uneasiness  at  another  person  being  out  of  humour  ?  Was 
it  not  pride  made  you  resent  contradiction  ?  or  from  what  other  princi- 
ple could  that  reluctance  flow,  which  you  felt  in  obeying  a  trivial  com- 
mand, which  perhaps  might  proceed  from  peevishness  ;  yet  the  matter 
being  indifferent,  obedience  was  unquestionably  your  duty.  A  wise 
person  ought  seldom,  or  indeed  never,  when  authority  is  not  disputed 
or  contemned,  do  acts  of  power ;  because  they  are  shocking  to  human 
nature ;  which,  if  not  fortified  and  strengthened  by  religion,  is  apt  in 
such  cases  to  throw  off  all  subjection,  and  rebel  against  even  lawful 
government.  But  though  you  should  meet  with  high  instances,  which 
the  pride  of  man  will  throw  in  your  way ;  yet  take  care  not  to  swerve 
from  your  duty.  Look  upon  every  such  act  as  a  call  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence to  exercise  the  virtues  of  meekness  and  humility. 

"  When  you  can  bear  severe  reflections,  unjust  censures,  contempt- 
uous words*  and  unreasonable  actions,  without  perturbation,  without 
rendering  evil  for  evil ;  but  with  an  equal  temper  can  clearly  discern, 
and  cheerfully  do,  your  duty ;  you  may  hope  that  God  hath  given  you 
some  degree  of  humility  and  resignation." 

EVENING. 
w  The  philosophy  of  the  whole  world  hath  not  sufficient  force  to  con- 


.MRS.  SUSANNA  WESLET.  21 1 

quer  the  propensions  of  corrupt  nature.  Appetites  and  passions  vrill 
bear  sway,  maugre  all  our  fine  speculations  ;  till  our  minds  are  enlight- 
ened by  some  higher  principle,  by  virtue  of  which  light  it  discerns  .the 
moral  turpitude  of  those  things  in  which  before  it  placed  its  supreme 
happiness,  and  the  beauty  of  that  virtue  and  holiness  that  it  was  accus* 
tomed  to  despise." 

MORNING. 

"  You  commit  your  soul  morning  and  evening  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  he 
is  the  Saviour  of  the  world  :  then,  observe  what  he  saith  unto  you,  reso- 
lutely obey  his  precepts,  and  endeavour  to  follow  his  example  in  those 
things  wherein  he  is  exhibited  to  us  as  a  pattern  for  our  imitation.  No 
circumstances  or  time  of  life  can  occur,  but  you  may  find  something 
either  spoken  by  our  Lord  himself,  or  by  his  Spirit  in  the  prophets  or 
apostles,  that  will  direct  your  conduct,  if  you  are  but  faithful  to  God 
and  your  own  soul." 

EVENING. 

"  Two  great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  Christian  perfection  ;  the  first 

.     \yhat  says  our  Lord  by  his  Apostle  St.  John? — Love  not 

the  world,  nor  the  things  that  are  in  the  world ;  if  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.  That  man  will  as  certainly 
be  damned  whose  affections  are  fixed  on  sensual  pleasures,  riches,  or 
honours,  though  he  never  enjoy  any,  or  a  very  inconsiderable  propor- 
tion of  them,  as  he  that  having  them  all  in  his  power,  indulges  himself 
the  satisfaction  of  his  most  criminal  desires.  For  'tis  the  heart  God 
requires ;  and  he  that  suffers  his  heart  (his  affection)  to  centre  on  any 
thing  but  God,  be  the  object  of  his  passion  innocent  or  othencise,  does 
actually  make  that  thing  HIS  God,  and  in  so  doing  forfeits  his  title  and 
pretensions  to  eternal  happiness." 

MORNING. 

"Another  great  impediment  is  deep  adversity,  which  often  affects, 
the  mind  too  much,  and  disposes  to  anxious,  doubtful,  and  unbelieving 
thoughts.  Though  there  be  no  direct  murmurings,  no  repinings  at  the 
prosperity  of  others  ;  no  harsh  reflections  on  Providence,  but  a  constant 
acknowledgment  of  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God — that  he  punishes 
less  than  our  iniquities  deserve — and  does  always  in  the  midst  of  judg- 
ment remember  mercy ;  yet  if  you  think  severely  or  unjustly  of  men ;  if 
you  are  too  much  dejected,  or  disposed  to  peevishness,  covetousness, 
or  negligence  in  affairs ;  if  you  work  too  much  or  too  Jiitle ;  are  pre- 
sumptuous or  desponding,  wholly  omit  to  implore  the  Divine  blessing 
and  assistance  on  honest  prospects  and  endeavours ;  or  are  too  soli- 
citous and  earnest  in  prayer  for  external  blessings ;  if  the  thoughts  of 
your  circumstances  invade  your  privacies,  or  disturb  your  rest;  if  any 
little  access  of  trouble  have  power  to  ruffle  your  temper,  and  indispose 
or  distract  your  mind  in  your  addresses  to  Heaven,  in  reading,  medi- 
tation, or  any  other  spiritual  exercise ;  you  are  certainly  in  the  power  cf 
the  world,  guilty  of  immoderate  anxious  care. 

"  Then  observe  what  your  Lord  saith  by  his  apostle, — J?<  cartful 


212  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

(anxiously)  for  nothing.  And  what  he  saith  himself, — Therefore,  I  say 
unto  you,  take  no  thought,  fyc,  and  remember  that  he  ranks  cares  of 
this  life  with  surf  citings  and  drunkenness,  which  are  mortal,  damning 
sins." 

MORNING. 

"  The  great  difficulty  we  find  in  restraining  our  appetites  and  pas- 
sions from  excess  often  arises  from  the  liberties  we  take  in  indulging 
them  in  all  those  instances  wherein  there  does  not  at  first  sight  appear 
some  moral  evil.  Occasions  of  sin  frequently  take  their  rise  from  law- 
ful enjoyments ;  and  he  that  will  always  venture  to  go  to  the  utmost 
bounds  of  what  he  may,  will  not  fail  to  step  beyond  them  sometimes  ; 
and  then  he  uses  his  liberty  for  a  cloak  of  his  licentiousness.  He  that 
habitually  knows  and  abhors  the  sins  of  intemperance,  will  not  stay  too 
long  in  the  company  of  such  as  are  intemperate  ;  and  because  God  is 
pleased  to  indulge  us  a  glass  for  refreshment,  will  therefore  take  it 
when  he  really  needs  none,  it  is  odds  but  this  man  will  transgress ;  and 
though  he  should  keep  on  his  feet,  and  in  his  senses,  yet  he  will  perhaps 
raise  more  spirits  than  his  reason  can  command  ;  will  injure  his  health, 
his  reputation  or  estate  ;  discompose  his  temper,  violate  his  own  peace, 
or  that  of  his  family ;  all  which  are  evils  which  ought  carefully  to  be 
avoided. 

"  It  holds  the  same  in  all  other  irregular  appetites  or  passions ;  and 
there  may  be  the  same  temptations  in  other  instances  from  whence 
occasions  of  sin  may  arise  ;  therefore  be  sure  to  keep  a  strict  guard, 
and  observe  well  lest  you  use  lawful  pleasures  unlawfully.  4  Fly  from 
occasions  of  evil  /' " 

NOON. 

*l  The  Christian  religion  is  of  so  complicated  a  nature,  that  unless 
we  give  up  ourselves  entirely  to  its  discipline,  we  cannot  steadfastly 
adhere  to  any  of  its  precepts.  All  virtues  are  closely  bound  together ; 
and  break  but  one  link  of  the  golden  chain,  you  spoil  the  whole  con- 
texture. As  vices  are  often  made  necessary  supports  to  each  other ; 
so  virtues  do  mutually  strengthen  and  assist  virtues.  Thus  temperance 
and  chastity,  fortitude  and  truth,  humility  and  patience,  divine  charity 
and  charity  toward  man ;  all  virtues  of  what  denomination  soever  reci- 
procally cherish  and  invigorate  one  another." 

MORNING. 

"  Philosophy  and  morality  are  not  sufficient  to  restrain  us  from  those 
sins  that  our  constitution  of  body,  circumstances  of  life,  or  evil  custom, 
strongly  dispose  us  to.  Nature  and  appetite  will  be  too  hard  for  their 
precepts,  unless  a  man  be  determined  by  o  law  within  himself.  They 
may  teach  him  caution,  and  give  check  to  his  vicious  inclinations  in 
public :  but  will  never  carry  him  to  an  inward  and  universal  purity. 
This  is  only  to  be  effected  by  the  power  of  religion,  which  will  direct  us 
to  a  serious  application  to  God  in  fervent  prayer.  Upon  which  we 
shall  feel  a  disengagement  from  the  impressions  sensual  objects  were 
wont  to  make  on  our  minds,  and  an  inward  strength  of  disposition  to 
resist  them. 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLEY.  213 

"  Good  men  who  felt,  upon  their  frequent  applications  to  God  in 
prayer,  a  freedom  from  those  ill  impressions  that  formerly  subdued 
them,  an  inward  love  to  virtue  and  true  goodness ;  an  easiness  and  de- 
light in  all  the  parts  of  holiness,  which  was  fed  and  cherished  in  them 
by  a  seriousness  in  prayer,  and  did  languish  as  that  went  off;  had  as 
real  a  perception  of  an  inward  strength  in  their  minds,  thai  did  rise  and 
fall  with  true  devotion,  as  they  perceived  the  strength  of  their  bodies  in- 
creased or  abated  according  as  they  had  or  wanted  good  nourishment. 

"  This  replied  to  Lord  R 's  objections  against  answers  of  prayer, 

which  he  supposes  s.  fancy,  and  an  effect  of  a  heat  in  nature; — that  it 
had  effect  only  by  diverting  the  thoughts." 

EVENING. 

"  The  mind  of  man  is  naturally  so  corrupted,  and  all  the  powers 
thereof  so  weakened,  that  we  cannot  possibly  aspire  vigorously  toward 
God,  or  have  any  clear  perception  of  spiritual  things  without  his  assist- 
ance. Nothing  less  than  the  same  almighty  power  that  raised  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead  can  raise  our  souls  from  the  death  of  sin  to  a  life 
of  holiness.  To  know  God  experimentally,  is  altogether  supernatural, 
and  what  we  can  never  attain  to  but  by  the  merits  and  intercession  of 
Jesus  Christ.  By  virtue  of  what  he  has  done  and  suffered,  and  is  now 
doing  in  heaven  for  us,  we  obtain  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  best 
instructor,  the  most  powerful  teacher,  we  can  possibly  have ;  without 
whose  agency  all  other  means  of  grace  would  be  ineffectual.  How 
evidently  does  the  Holy  Spirit  concur  with  the  means  of  grace!  And 
how  certainly  does  he  assist  and  strengthen  the  soul,  if  it  be  but  sincere 
and  hearty  in  its  endeavours  to  avoid  any  evil  or  perform  any  good !  To 
have  a  good  desire,  a  fervent  aspiration  toward  God,  shall  not  pass 
unregarded. 

"  I  have  found  by  long  experience  that  it  is  of  great  use  to  accustom 
one's  self  to  enter  into  solemn  engagements  with  God  against  any  parti- 
cular sin :  but  then  I  would  have  them  never  made  for  a  longer  time 
than  from  morning  till  night,  and  from  night  till  morning ;  that  so  the 
impression  they  make  on  the  mind  may  be  always  fresh  and  lively. 

This  was  many  years  tried  with  good  success  in  the  case  of . 

Glory  be  to  thee,  O  Lord !" 

EVENING. 

"  Give  God  the  praise  for  any  well  spent  day.  But  I  am  yet  unsatis- 
fied, because  I  do  not  enjoy  enough  of  God :  I  apprehend  myself  at 
too  great  a  distance  from  him ;  I  would  have  my  soul  more  closely 
united  to  him  by  faith  and  love.  I  can  appeal  to  his  omniscience,  that  1 
would  love  him  above  all  things.  He  that  made  me  knows  my  desires, 
my  expectations.  My  joys  all  centre  in  him,  and  that  it  is  he  himself 
that  I  desire  ;  it  is  his  favour,  it  is  his  acceptance,  the  communications 
of  his  grace,  that  I  earnestly  wish  for  more  than  any  thing  in  the  world ; 
and  that  I  have  no  relish  or  delight  in  any  thing  when  under  apprehen- 
sions of  his  displeasure.  I  rejoice  in  his  essential  glory  and  blessed- 
ness :  I  rejoice  in  my  relation  to  him,  that  he  is  my  Father,  my  Lord, 
and  my  Cod.  I  rejoice  that  he  has  power  over  me,  and  desire  to  live 


214  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

in  subjection  to  him  :  that  he  condescends  to  punish  me  when  I  trans- 
gress his  laws,  as  a  father  chasteneth  the  son  whom  he  loveth.  I  thank 
him  that  he  has  brought  me  so  far ;  and  will  beware  of  despairing  of 
his  mercy  for  the  time  which  is  yet  to  come,  but  will  give  God  the  glory 
of  his  free  grace." 

MORNING. 

41  It  is  too  common  with  me  upon  receiving  any  light,  or  new  supply 
of  grace,  to  think,  Now  I  have  gained  my  point,  and  may  say,  Soul, 
take  thine  ease.  By  which  means  I  think  not  of  going  any  farther  :  or 
else  fall  into  dejection  of  spirit  upon  a  groundless  fear  that  I  shall  soon 
lose  what  I  have  gained,  and  in  a  little  time  be  never  the  better  for  it. 
Both  these  are  sins.  The  first  proceeds  from  immoderate  love  of  pre- 
sent ease  and  spiritual  sloth :  the  other  from  want  of  faith  in  the  all- 
sufficiency  of  my  Saviour. 

"  We  must  never  take  up  our  rest  on  this  side  of  heaven,  nor  think 
we  have  enough  of  God,  till  we  are  perfectly  renewed  and  sanctified  in 
body,  soul,  and  spirit ;  till  we  are  admitted  into  that  blessed  region  of 
pure  and  happy  spirits,  where  we  shall  enjoy  the  beatific  vision  accord- 
ing to  the  measure  of  our  capacities  !  Nor  must  we  out  of  a  pretended 
humility,  because  we  are  unworthy  of  the  least  mercy,  dare  to  dispute 
or  question  the  sufficiency  of  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  was 
impossible  for  God  incarnate  to  undertake  more  than  he  was  able  to 
perform." 

MORNING. 

"  Though  man  is  born  to  trouble,  yet  I  believe  there  is  scarce  a  man 
to  be  found  upon  earth,  but,  take  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  hath 
more  mercies  than  afflictions,  and  much  more  pleasure  than  pain.  I  am 
sure  it  has  been  so  in  my  case.  I  have  many  years  suffered  much  pain, 
and  great  bodily  infirmities :  but  I  have  likewise  enjoyed  great  intervals 
of  rest  and  ease.  And  those  very  sufferings  have,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  been  of  excellent  use,  and  proved  the  most  proper  means  of 
reclaiming  me  from  a  vain  and  sinful  conversation  ;  insomuch  that  I 
cannot  say,  I  had  better  have  been  without  this  affliction,  this  disease, 
this  loss,  want,  contempt,  or  reproach.  All  my  sufferings,  by  the 
admirable  management  of  omnipotent  goodness,  have  concurred  to 
promote  my  spiritual  and  eternal  good.  And  if  I  have  not  reaped  that 
advantage  by  them  which  I  might  have  done,  it  is  merely  owing  to  the 
perverseness  of  my  own  will,  and  frequent  lapses  into  present  things, 
and  unfaithfulness  to  the  good  Spirit  of  God  ;  who,  notwithstanding  all 
my  prevarications,  all  the  stupid  opposition  I  have  made,  has  never 
totally  abandoned  me.  Glory  be  to  thee,  0  Lord !" 

EVENING. 

"  If  to  esteem  and  have  the  highest  reverence  for  THEE  ;  if  constantly 
and  sincerely  to  acknowledge  THEE  the^upreme,  the  only  desirable 
good,  be  to  love  thee, — 1  DO  love  THEE  !>^ 

"  If  comparatively  to  despise  and  undervalue  all  the  world  contains, 
which  is  esteemed  great,  fair,  or  good ;  if  earnestly  and  constantly  to 


MRS.    SUSANNA   WESI.Ef.  215 

desire  thee,  thy  favour,  thy  acceptance,  thyself,  rather  than  any  or  all 
things  thou  hast  created,  be  to  love,  thee, — 1  DO  love  thee  ! 

*4  If  to  rejoice  in  thy  essential  majesty  and  glory  !  if  to  feel  a  vital 
joy  overspread  and  cheer  the  heart  at  each  perception  of  thy  blessed- 
ness, at  every  thought  that  thou  art  God,  and  that  all  things  are  in  thy 
power,  that  there  is  none  superior  or  equal  to  thee,  be  to  love  thee, — I 

do  LOVE  THEE." 

In  these  reflections  and  meditations  the  reader  will  see  something  of 
the  mind,  the  spirit,  the  heart,  and  the  piety,  of  Mrs.  Susanna  Wesley. 

In  another  of  her  meditations  she  mentions  the  following  among  the 
many  mercies  which  God  had  bestowed  upon  her : — 

"  Born  in  a  Christian  country ;  early  initiated  and  instructed  in  the 
first  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  good  example  in  parents,  and 
in  several  of  the  family ;  good  books  and  ingenuous  conversation ;  pre- 
served from  ill  accidents,  once  from  violent  death ;  married  to  a  reli- 
gious, orthodox  man  ;  by  him  first  drawn  off  from  the  Socinian  heresy, 

and  afterward  confirmed  and  strengthened  by  B.  B ."  Probably 

Bishop  Bull. 

When  Mr.  Wesley  was  from  home,  Mrs.  Wesley  felt  it  her  duty  to 
keep  up  the  worship  of  God  in  her  own  house.  She  not  only  prayed  for, 
but  with,  her  family.  At  such  times  she  took  the  spiritual  direction 
and  care  of  the  children  and  servants  on  herself;  and  sometimes  even 
the  neighbours  shared  the  benefit  of  her  instructions.  This  in  one 
case  led  to  consequences  little  expected,  which  form  a  remarkable  trait 
in  the  character  of  this  extraordinary  and  excellent  woman.  Thrf  ac- 
count was  first  published  by  Mr.  John  Wesley,  who  remarks  that "  his 
mother,  as  well  as  her  father  and  grandfather,  her  husband,  and  her 
three  sons,  had  been  in  her  measure  a  preacher  of  righteousness."  The 
whole  account,  as  transcribed  by  Dr.  Whitehead  from  the  original  let- 
ters, I  shall  give  below. 

Her  husband  sometimes  attended  the  sittings  of  convocation ;  and 
on  these  occasions  was  obliged  to  reside  in  London  for  a  length  of  time 
that  was  often  injurious  to  his  parish,  and  at  an  expense  that  was  incon- 
venient to  his  family.  From  his  own  account  we  find  that  three  years' 
attendance  cost  him  150/. ;  and  as  a  curate  cost  him  from  30/.  to  40/., 
and  the  rectory  was  worth  but  about  fourscore,  the  family  in  such  years 
must  have  been  greatly  distressed,  as  the  whole  proceeds  of  the  rectory 
must  have  been  thus  unnecessarily  and  unprofitably  consumed.  They 
had  the  living  of  Wroole  at  this  time ;  but  that  seldom  paid  more  than 
its  own  expenses.  As  there  was  no  absolute  necessity  that  Mr.  W. 
should  attend  those  convocations,  his  doing  it  in  such  circumstances  was 
far  from  being  prudent,  as  it  was  the  cause  of  much  family  embarrass- 
ment. About  the  end  of  1711,  or  the  beginning  of  1712,  Mr.  W. 
appears  to  have  spent  a  considerable  time  in  London  on  this  business ; 
and  the  care  of  the  parish  devolved  on  a  person  of  the  name  of  Inman, 
the  curate,  who  appears  to  have  been  but  indifferently  qualified  for  his 
charge. 

During  her  husband's  absence,  Mrs.  Wesley  felt  it  her  duty  to  pay 
more  particular  attention  to  her  children,  especially  on  the  Lord's  day 


216  OF  MII.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

in  the  evening,  as  there  was  then  no  service  in  the  afternoon  at  the 
Church.  She  read  prayers  to  them,  and  also  a  sermon,  and  conversed 
with  them  on  religious  and  devotional  subjects.  Some  neighbours  hap- 
pening to  come  in  during  these  exercises,  being  permitted  to  stay,  were 
so  pleased  and  profitted  as  to  desire  permission  to  come  again.  This 
was  granted :  a  good  report  of  the  meeting  became  general ;  many 
requested  leave  to  attend ;  and  the  house  was  soon  filled,  more  than 
two  hundred  at  last  attending ;  and  many  were  obliged  to  go  away  for 
want  of  room.  As  she  wished  to  do  nothing  without  her  husband's 
knowledge  and  approbation,  she  acquainted  him  with  their  meeting, 
and  the  circumstances  out  of  which  it  arose.  While  he  approved  of 
her  zeal  and  good  sense,  he  stated  several  objections  to  the  continuance 
of  the  meeting  which  will  be  best  seen  in  her  answer,  dated  Epworth, 
Feb.  6,  1712,  in  which  she  says  : — 

«'  I  heartily  thank  you  for  dealing  so  plainly  and  faithfully  with  me  in 
a  matter  of  no  common  concern.  The  main  of  your  objections  against 
our  Sunday  evening  meetings  are,  first,  that  it  will  look  particular ; 
secondly,  my  sex ;  and  lastly,  your  being  at  present  in  a.  public  station 
and  character.  To  all  which  I  shall  answer  briefly. 

"  As  to  its  looking  particular,  I  grant  it  does  :  and  so  does  almost 
every  thing  that  is  serious,  or  that  may  any  way  advance  the  glory  of 
God,  or  the  salvation  of  souls,  if  it  be  performed  out  of  a  pulpit,  or  in 
the  way  of  common  conversation ;  because  in  our  corrupt  age  the  utmost 
care  and  diligence  have  been  used  to  banish  all  discourse  of  God  or 
spiritual  concerns  out  of  society,  as  if  religion  were  never  to  appear  out 
of  the  closet,  and  we  were  to  be  ashamed  of  nothing  so  much  as  of 
professing  ourselves  to  be  Christians. 

"  To  your  second,  I  reply,  that  as  I  am  a  woman,  so  I  am  also  mis- 
tress of  a  large  family.  And  though  the  superior  charge  of  the  souls 
contained  in  it  lies  upon  you  as  head  of  the  family,  and  as  their  minis- 
ter ;  yet  in  your  absence  I  cannot  but  look  upon  every  soul  you  leave 
under  my  care,  as  a  talent  committed  to  me  under  a  trust  by  the  great 
Lord  of  all  the  families  of  heaven  and  earth.  And  if  I  am  unfaithful  to 
him,  or  to  you,  in  neglecting  to  improve  these  talents,  how  shall  I  answer 
unto  him,  when  he  shall  command  me  to  render  an  account  of  my 
stewardship  ? 

"  As  these  and  other  such  like  thoughts  made  me  at  first  take  a  more 
than  ordinary  care  of  the  souls  of  my  children  and  servants  ;  so  know- 
ing that  our  most  holy  religion  requires  a  strict  observation  of  the  Lord's 
day,  and  not  thinking  that  we  fully  answered  the  end  of  the  institution 
by  only  going  to  Church,  but  that  likewise  we  are  obliged  to  fill  up  the 
intermediate  spaces  of  that  sacred  time  by  other  acts  of  piety  and  devo- 
tion ;  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  spend  some  part  of  the  day  in  reading  to 
and  instructing  my  family,  especially  in  your  absence,  when  having  no 
afternodn's  service,  we  have  so  much  leisure  for  such  exercises  ;  and 
such  time  I  esteemed  spent  in  a  way  more  acceptable  to  God,  than  if  I 
had  retired  to  my  own  private  devotions. 

"  This  was  the  beginning  of  my  present  practice :  other  people  coming 
in  and  joining  with  us  was  purely  accidental.  Our  lad  told  his  parents 
— they  first  desired  to  be  admitted ;  then  others  who  heard  of  it,  begged 


MRS.   SUSANNA    WESLEY.  217 

leave  also  ;  so  our  eornpany  increased  to  about  thirty,  and  seldom  ex- 
ceeded forty  last  winter ;  and  why  it  increased  since,  I  leave  you  to 
judge  after  you  have  read  what  follows. 

"  Soon  after  you  went  to  London,  Emily  found  in  your  study  the 
account  of  the  Danish  missionaries,  which  having  never  seen,  I  ordered 
her  to  read  it  to  me.  I  was  never,  I  think,  more  affected  with  any 
thing  than  with  the  relation  of  their  travels  ;  and  was  exceeding  pleased 
with  the  noble  design  they  were  engaged  in.  Their  labours  refreshed 
my  soul  beyond  measure  ;  and  I  could  not  forbear  spending  good  part 
of  that  evening  in  praising  and  adoring  the  Divine  goodness  for  inspiring 
those  good  men  with  such  an  ardent  zeal  for  his  glory ;  that  they  were 
willing  to  hazard  their  lives,  and  all  that  is  esteemed  dear  to  men  in  this 
world  to  advance  the  honour  of  their  master,  Jesus.  For  several  days 
I  could  think  or  speak  of  little  else.  At  last  it  came  into  my  mind  ; 
though  I  am  not  a  man  nor  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  so  cannot  be 
employed  in  such  a  worthy  employment  as  they  were ;  yet  if  my  heart 
were  sincerely  devoted  to  God,  and  if  I  were  inspired  with  a  true  zeal 
for  his  glory,  and  did  really  desire  the  salvation  of  souls,  I  might  do 
somewhat  more  than  I  do.  I  thought  I  might  live  in  a  more  exemplary 
manner  in  some  things  ;  I  might  pray  more  for  the  people,  and  speak 
with  more  warmth  to  those  with  whom  I  have  an  opportunity  of  con- 
versing. However,  I  resolved  to  begin  with  my  own  children  ;  and 
accordingly  I  proposed  and  observed  the  following  method.  I  take 
such  a  proportion  of  time  as  I  can  best  spare  every  night  to  discourse 
with  each  child  by  itself,  on  something  that  relates  to  its  principal 
concerns.  On  J\Ionday  I  talk  with  Molly ;  on  Tuesday  with  Hetty ; 
Wednesday  with  JV*a»ci/ ;  Thursday  with  Jacky  ;  Friday  with  Patty  ; 
Saturday  with  Charles;  and  with  Emily  and  Sukey  together,  on 
Sunday. 

"  With  those  few  neighbours  who  then  came  to  me  I  discoursed  more 
freely  and  affectionately  than  before.  I  chose  the  best  and  most 
awakening  sermons  we  had,  and  I  spent  more  time  with  them  in  such 
exercises.  Since  this  our  company  has  increased  every  night ;  for  I 
dare  deny  none  that  asks  admittance.  Last  Sunday,  I  believe  we  had 
above  two  hundred,  and  yet  many  went  away  for  want  of  room. 

*'  But  I  never  durst  positively  presume  to  hope  that  God  would  make 
use  of  me  as  an  instrument  in  doing  good  ;  the  farthest  I  ever  durst  go 
was,  It  may  be  ;  who  can  tell  1  With  God  all  things  are  possible.  I 
will  resign  myself  to  him  :  or,  as  Herbert  better  expresses  it, — 

Only  since  God  doth  often  make 
Of  lowly  matter  for  hi^h  use*  meet, 

I  throw  me  at  his  feet ; 
There  'will  I  lie  until  my  Maker  seek 
For  some  mean  stuff,  whereon  to  show  his  skill 

Then  is  my  time. 

"  And  thus  I  rested,  without  passing  any  reflection  on  myself,  or 
forming  any  judgment  about  the  success*  or  event  of  this  undertaking. 

"  Your  third  objection  I  leave  to  be  answered  by  your  own  judgment. 
We  meet  not  on  any  worldly  ilrxign.  We  banish  all  temporal  concerns 
from  our  society  :  none  is  suffered  to  mingle  any  discourse  about  them 

28 


213  OF  MR*  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

with  our  reading  or  singing  :  we  keep  close  to  the  business  of  the  day  ; 
and  as  soon  as  it  is  over,  they  all  go  home.  And  where  is  the  harm  of 
this  ?  If  I  and  my  children  went  a  visiting  on  Sunday  nights,  or  if  we 
admitted  of  impertinent  visits,  as  too  many  do,  who  think  themselves 
good  Christians,  perhaps  it  would  be  thought  no  scandalous  practice, 
though  in  truth  it  would  be  so. — Therefore  why  any  should  reflect  upon 
you,  let  your  station  be  what  it  will,  because  your  wife  endeavours  to 
draw  people  to  the  Church,  and  to  restrain  them  by  reading  and  other 
persuasions,  from  their  profanation  of  God's  most  holy  day,  I  cannot 
conceive.  But  if  any  should  be  so  mad  as  to  do  it,  I  wish  you  would 
not  regard  it.  For  my  part,  I  value  no  censure  on  this  account.  I 
have  long  since  shook  hands  with  the  world,  and  I  heartily  wish  I  had 
never  given  them  more  reason  to  speak  against  me. 

"  As  for  your  proposal  of  letting  some  other  person  read.  Alas ! 
you  do  not  consider  what  a  people  these  are.  I  do  not  think  one  man 
among  them  could  read  a  sermon,  without  spelling  a  good  part  of  it ; — 
and  Jiow  would  that  edify  the  rest?  Nor  has  any  of  our  family  a  voice 
strong  enough  to  be  heard  by  such  a  number  of  people. 

"  But  there  is  one  thing  about  which  I  am  much  dissatisfied  ;  that  is, 
their  being  present  at  family  prayers.  I  do  not  speak  of  any  concern  I 
am  under,  barely  because  so  many  are  present :  for  those  who  have  the 
honour  of  speaking  to  the  great  and  holy  God,  need  not  be  ashamed  to 
speak  before  the  whole  world,  but  because  of  my  sex.  I  doifbt  if  it  be 
proper  for  me  to  present  the  prayers  of  the  people  to  God. 

"  Last  Sunday,  I  fain  would  have  dismissed  them  before  prayers 
but  they  begged  so  earnestly  to  stay,  that  I  durst  not  deny  them." 

How  forcible  are  right  ivords  !  Who  could  overthrow  or  withstand 
this  reasoning  ?  The  people  were  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge  ; 
and  it  is  most  evident  from  the  circumstances  that  a  dispensation  of  the 
Gospel  was  given  to  this  eminent  woman,  to  teach  and  instruct  them  ia 
the  absence  of  their  legal  pastor.  She  was  faithful ;  and  the  conse- 
quence was,  a  number  of  people  were  edified,  and  perhaps  not  a  feyr 
reclaimed,  that  long  ere  this  have  welcomed  her  into  everlasting  habita- 
tions, and  will  be  her  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Mr.  Wesley  felt  the  power  of  the  wisdom  by  which  she  spoke  ;  and 
cordially  gave  his  approbation  to  her  conduct :  she  went  on  her  way 
rejoicing,  and  great  good  was  done.  But  a  worthless  man,  Inman, 
who  was  curate  of  the  parish,  and  a  few  like  himself,  filled  with  envy, 
and  perhaps  even  a  worse  principle,  wrote  to  Mr.  Wesley,  highly  com- 
plaining of  these  transactions,  and  stating  that  Mrs.  Wesley  had  turned 
the  parsonage  house  into  a  conventicle,  &c ;  that  the  Church  was 
likely  to  receive  great  scandal  by  these  irregular  proceedings  ;  and  th'at 
they  ought  not  to  be  tolerated  any  longer.  Mr.  Wesley  was  alarmed ; 
his  high  Church  principles  rose  up  against  his  better  judgment,  and  he 
wrote  to  his  wife  desiring  her  to  discontinue  the  meetings.  She  received 
this  high  testimony  of  disapprobation  with  that  firmness  which  belongs 
alone  to  conscious  rectitude ;  and  returned  an  answer  to  her  husband, 
which  bears  all  the  marks  of  her  energetic  mind,  deep  piety,  ardent  zealf 
and  submissive  respect  to  the  authority  of  her  spouse. 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLEY.  219 

"  Epworlh,  Feb.  25,  1712. 

**  Some  days  since  I  received  a  letter  from  you,  I  suppose  dated  the 
16th  instant,  which  I  made  no  great  haste  to  answer,  because  I  judged 
it  necessary  for  both  of  us  to  take  some  time  to  consider  before  you 
determine  in  a  matter  of  such  great  importance. 

"  I  shall  not  inquire  how  it  was  possible  that  you  should  be  prevailed 
on  by  the  senseless  clamours  of  two  or  three  of  the  icorst  of  your  pa*- 
risk  to  condemn  what  you  so  lately  approved.  But  I  shall  tell  you  my 
thoughts  in  as  few  words  as  possible.  I  do  not  hear  of  more  than 
three  or  four  persons  who  are  against  our  meeting,  of  whom  Inman 
is  the  chief.  He  and  Whitely  I  believe  may  call  it  a  conventicle. :  but 
we  hear  no  outcry  here,  nor  has  any  one  said  a  word  against  it  to  me. 
And  what  does  their  calling  it  a  conventicle  signify  ?  Does  it  alter  the 
nature  of  the  thing  1  or  do  you  think  that  what  they  say  is  a  sufficient 
reason  to  forbear  a  thing  that  has  already  done  much  good,  and  by  the 
blessing  of  God  may  do  much  morel  If  its  being  called  a  conventicle, 
by  those  who  know  in  their  conscience  they  misrepresent  it,  did  really 
make  it  one,  what  you  say  would  be  somewhat  to  the  purpose  :  but  it  is 
plain  in  fact  that  this  one  thing  has  brought  more  people  to  Church,  than 
ever  any  thing  did,  in  so  short  a  time.  We  used  not  to  have  above  ticenty 
or  twenty-Jive  at  evening  service,  whereas  we  have  now  between  two 
and  three  hundred:  which  are  more  than  ever  came  before  to  hear 
Inman  in  the  morning. 

"  Beside  the  constant  attendance  on  the  public  worship  of  God,  our 
meeting  has  wonderfully  conciliated  the  minds  of  this  people  toward  us, 
so  that  we  now  live  in  the  greatest  amity  imaginable  ;  and  what  is  still 
better,  they  are  very  much  reformed  in  their  behaviour  on  the  Lord's 
day ;  and  those  who  used  to  be  playing  in  the  streets  now  come  to  hear 
a  good  sermon  read,  which  is  surely  more  acceptable  to  almighty  God. 

**•  Another  reason  for  what  I  do  is,  that  I  have  no  other  way  of  con- 
versing with  this  people,  and  therefore  have  no  other  way  of  doing  them 
good :  but  by  this  I  have  an  opportunity  of  exercising  the  greatest 
and  noblest  charity,  that  is,  charity  to  their  souls. 

"  Some  families  who  seldom  went  to  Church,  now  go  constantly  ; 
and  one  person  who  had  not  been  there  for  seven  years,  is  now  prevailed 
upon  to  go  with  the  rest. 

"  There  are  many  other  good  consequences  of  this  meeting  which  I 
have  not  time  to  mention.  Now  I  beseech  you  weigh  all  these  things 
in  an  impartial  balance  :  on  the  one  side,  the  honour  of  almighty  God, 
the  doing  much  good  to  many  souls,  and  the  friendship  of  the  best 
among  whom  we  live  ;  on  the  other,  (if  folly,  impiety,  and  vanity  may 
abide  in  the  scale  against  so  ponderous  a  weight)  the  senseless  objec- 
tions of  a  few  scandalous  persons  laughing  at  us,  and  censuring  us  as 
precise  and  hypocritical ;  and  when  you  have  duly  considered  all  things, 
let  me  have  your  positive  determination. 

"  I  need  not  tell  you  the  consequences,  if  you  determine  to  put  an 
end  to  our  meeting.  You  may  easily  perceive  what  prejudice  it  may 
raise  in  the  minds  of  these  people  against  Inman  especially,  who  has 
had  so  little  wit  as  to  speak  publicly  against  it.  I  can  now  keep  them 
to  the  Church  :  but  if  it  be  laid  aside,  Fdoubt  they  will  never  go  to  hear 


• 


220  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

him  more,  at  least  those  who  come  from  the  lower  end  of  the  town. 
But  if  this  be  continued  till  you  return,  which  now  will  not  be  long,  it 
may  please  God  that  their  hearts  may  be  so  changed  by  that  time  that 
they  may  love  and  delight  in  his  public  worship,  so  as  never  to  neglect 
it  more, 

"  If  you  do,  after  all,  think  fit  to  dissolve  this  assembly,  do  not  tell 
me  that  you  desire  me  to  do  it,  for  that  will  not  satisfy  my  conscience. 
But  send  me  your  positive  command,  in  such  full  and  express  terms, 
as  may  absolve  me  from  all  guilt  and  punishment,  for  neglecting  this 
opportunity  of  doing  good,  when  you  and  I  shall  appear  before  the 
great  and  awful  tribunal  of  our  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST." 

Though  I  find  no  farther  record  of  these  transactions  yet  I  take  it 
for  granted  that  this  letter  was  decisive,  and  Mrs.  Wesley's  meetings 
continued  till  her  husband  returned  to  Epworth.  They  would  then  be 
given  up  in  course  ;  and  when  discontinued  it  could  be  little  cause  of 
rejoicing  to  any  serious  mind  ;  as  it  is  most  evident  that  God  had  done 
more  in  a  few  months  by  this  irregular  ministry  than  he  had  done  by 
that  of  the  rector  and  his  curates  for  eighteen  years  before  ! 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Mrs.  Wesley  terms  the  people  that  com- 
posed these  meetings  our  SOCIETY  ;  and  the  meetings  were  conducted 
much  after  the  manner  of  the  Methodists'  society  meetings  at  this  day  ; 
especially  those  of  the  Sabbath  evenings  ;  when,  after  the  preaching, 
the  society,  and  often  any  other  serious  person,  is  permitted  to  stay  to  a 
second  meeting,  in  which  such  exhortations  are  given  relative  to  per- 
sonal and  family  religion,  as  could  not  with  propriety  be  brought  before 
a  mixed  congregation,  where  perhaps  the  bulk  of  the  people  are  una- 
wakened,  and  consequently  incapable  of  profiting  by  instructions  rela- 
tive to  the  life  and  power  of  godliness. 

This  is  not  the  first  instance  in  which  the  seeds  of  that  great  work, 
since  Called  Methodism,  were  sown  in  and  by  the  original  members  of 
this  remarkable  family. 

For  my  own  part  I  should  ever  feel  myself  disposed  to  bow  with 
profound  respect  to  that  rare  dispensation  of  Providence  and  grace 
which  should,  in  similar  circumstances,  with  as  clear  and  distinct  a  call, 
raise  up  a  woman  of  such  talents  and  piety  to  labour  in  the  Gospel, 
where  the  people  were  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge,  and  so  snatch 
the  brands  from  eternal  burning. 

Who  so  prejudiced  as  not  to  see  that  God  put  no  honour  on  Inman 
the  curate ;  but  chose  Susanna  Wesley  to  do  the  work  of  the  evan- 
gelist? The  abundance  of  gracious  fruit  which  sprang  from  this  seed 
proved  that  the  master  sower  was  JESUS,  the  Lord  of  the  harvest. 
Lord,  thou  wilt  send  by  whomsoever  thou  pleasest  ;  and  wilt  hide 
pride  from  man,  in  order  to  prove  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  is  of 
thee  ! 

By  these  very  means  all  those  persons  who  had  been  soured 
against  Mr.  Wesley  for  the  part  that  he  had  taken  in  an  unpopular 
election,  now  became  the  friends  of  his  family  ;  so  that,  to  use  Mrs. 
Wesley's  words,  they  lived  together  in  the  greatest  amity  imaginable. 

The  good  sense,  piety,  observation,  and  experience  of  Mrs.  Wesley, 


MRf.    SUSANNA   WESLEY.  221 

qualified  her  to  be  a  wise  counsellor  in  almost  every  affair  in  life,  and 
a  sound  spiritual  director  in  most  things  that  concerned  the  salvation  of 
the  soul.  Her  sons,  while  at  Oxford,  continued  to  profit  by  her  ad- 
vices and  directions,  as  they  had  done  while  more  immediately  under 
her  care.  They  sought  and  had,  not  only  her  advice  and  counsel,  but 
also  her  approbation  in  the  little  society  they  had  formed  at  the  univer- 
sity, and  that  moral  strictness  of  life  which  they  had  adopted.  While 
she  excited  them  to  proceed  and  persevere,  she  taught  them  prudence 
and  caution.  The  following  letter  to  her  son  John,  at  Oxford,  some 
time  after  he  had  paid  them  a  visit  at  Epworth,  cannot  be  read  by  any 
pei  son  without  profit  : — 

"  Epworth,  Oct.  25,  1732. 

"  DEAR  JACKY, — I  was  glad  to  hear  you  got  safe  to  Oxford  ;  and 
would  have  told  you  so  sooner  had  I  been  at  liberty,  from  pain  of  body 
and  other  severer  trials  not  convenient  to  mention.  Let  every  one 
enjoy  the  present  hour  :  age  and  successive  troubles  are  sufficient  to 
convince  any  reasonable  man  that  it  is  a  much  wiser  and  safer  way  to 
deprecate  great  afflictions,  than  to  pray  for  them ;  and  that  our  Lord 
well  knew  what  was  in  man  when  he  directed  us  to  pray,  Lead  us  not 
into  temptation.  I  think  Heretic  Clark,  in  an  exposition  on  the  Lord's 
prayer,  is  more  in  the  right  than  Castaniza,  concerning  temptations. 
His  words  are  as  follow  : — '  We  are  encouraged  to  glory  in  tribula- 
tion, and  to  count  it  all  joy  when  we  fall  into  divers  temptations,  &c.' 
Nevertheless,  it  is  to  be  carefully  observed,  that  when  the  Scripture 
speaks  on  this  manner  concerning  rejoicing  in  temptations,  it  always 
considers  them  under  this  view,  as  being  experienced,  and  already  in 
great  measure  overcome.  For  otherwise,  as  to  temptations  in  general, 
temptations  unexperienced,  of  which  we  know  the  danger  but  not  the 
success,  our  Saviour  teaches  us  to  pray,  Lead  us  not  into  temptation  : 
and  again,  fVatch  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation.  Our  nature 
is  frail ;  our  passions  strong ;  our  wills  biassed  ;  and  our  security, 
generally  speaking,  consists  much  more  certainly  in  avoiding  great 
temptations,  than  in  conquering  them.  W'herefore  we  ought  contin- 
ually to  pray  that  God  would  be  pleased  to  order  and  direct  things  in  this 
probation  state,  as  not  to  suffer  us  to  be  tempted  above  what  we  are  able  ; 
but  that  he  would  with  the  temptation  also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that 
we  may  be  able  to  bear  it.  Our  Lord  directed  his  disciples  when  they 
were  persecuted  in  one  city  to  flee  into  another  ;  and  they  who  refuse  to 
do  it  when  it  is  in  their  power,  lead  themselves  into  temptation,  and 
tempt  God." 

At  this  time  both  the  brothers,  John  and  Charles,  were  in  a  bad  state 
of  health,  owing  to  excessive  study,  and  extraordinary  abstinence. 
They  had  consulted  Dr.  Huntington  on  the  subject,  and  transmitted 
his  opinion  to  their  mother.  To  this  she  refers  in  the  following  part  of 
the  above  letter  : — 

*•  [  don't  know  how  you  may  have  represented  your  case  to  Dr. 
Huntington  ;  I  have  had  occasion  to  make  some  observation  in  con- 
sumptions, and  am  pretty  certain  that  several  symptoms  of  that  distem- 
per are  beginning  upon  you  ;  and  thai  unless  you  take  more  care  than 


222  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

you  do,  you  will  put  the  matter  past  dispute  in  a  little  time.  But  take 
your  own  way  ;  I  have  already  given  you  up,  as  I  have  some  before, 
which  once  were  very  dear  to  me.  Charles,  tho'  I  believe  not  in  a  con- 
sumption, is  in  a  fine  state  of  health  for  a  man  of  two  or  three-and- 
twenty,  that  can't  eat  a  full  meal,  but  he  must  presently  throw  it  up 
again !  It  is  a  great  pity  that  folks  should  be  no  wiser,  and  that  they 
can't  fit  the  mean  in  a  case  where  it  is  so  obvious  to  view  that  none  can 
mistake  it  that  do  not  do  it  on  purpose." 

They  had  also  given  their  mother  an  account  of  their  religious  meet- 
ings, and  of  the  society  known  afterward  by  the  name  of  Methodists  ; 
and  that  it  had  from  the  beginning  her  cordial  approbation  will  appear 
by  the  following  extract  from  the  same  letter : — 

"  I  heartily  join  with  your  small  society  in  all  their  pious  and  chari- 
table actions,  which  are  intended  for  God's  glory  ;  and  am  glad  to  hear 
that  Mr.  Clayton  and  Mr.  Hall  have  met  with  desired  success.  May 
you  still  in  such  good  works  go  on  and  prosper.  Tho'  absent  in  body, 
I  am  present  with  you  in  spirit ;  and  daily  recommend  and  commit  you 
all  to  Divine  Providence.  You  do  well  to  wait  on  the  bishop,  because 
it  is  a  point  of  prudence  and  civility ;  tho'  (if  he  be  a  good  man)  I  can- 
not think  it  in  the  power  of  any  one  to  prejudice  him  against  you. 

"  Your  arguments  against  horse  races  do  certainly  conclude  against 
masquerades,  balls,  plays,  operas,  and  all  such  light  and  vain  diversions, 
•which,  wfiether  the  gay  people  of  the  world  will  own  it  or  no,  do  strong- 
ly confirm  and  strengthen  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and 
the  pride  of  life  ;  all  which  we  must  renounce,  or  renounce  our  God 
and  hope  of  eternal  salvation.  I  will  not  say  it  is  impossible  for  a  per- 
son to  have  any  sense  of  religion,  who  frequents  those  vile  assemblies  : 
but  I  never,  throughout  the  course  of  my  long  life,  knew  so  much  as 
one  serious  Christian  that  did  ;  nor  can  I  see  how  a  lover  of  God  can 
have  any  relish  for  such  vain  amusements. 

"  '  The  Life  of  God  in  the  Soul  of  Man'  is  an  excellent  good  book, 
and  was  an  acquaintance  of  mine  many  years  ago  :  but  I  have  unfor- 
tunately lost  it.  There  are  many  good  things  in  Castaniza,  more  in 
Baxter ;  yet  are  neither  without  faults,  which  I  overlook  for  the  sake 
of  their  virtues.  Nor  can  I  say  of  all  the  books  of  divinity  I  have  read, 
which  is  the  best ;  one  is  best  at  one  time,  one  at  another,  according 
to  the  temper  and  disposition  of  the  mind. 

"  Your  father  is  in  a  very  bad  state  of  health ;  he  sleeps  little,  and 
eats  less.  He  seems  not  to  have  any  apprehension  of  his  approaching 
exit :  but  I  fear  he  has  but  a  short  time  to  live.  It  is  with  much  pain 
and  difficulty  that  he  performs  Divine  service  on  the  Lord's  day,  which 
sometimes  he  is  obliged  to  contract  very  much.  Every  body  observes 
his  decay  but  himself;  and  people  really  seem  much  concerned  for 
him  and  his  family. 

"  The  two  girls  being  uneasy  in  the  present  situations,  do  not 
apprehend  the  sad  consequences  which  in  all  appearance  must  attend 
his  death,  so  much  as  I  think  they  ought  to  do ;  for,  as  bad  as  they 
think  their  condition  now,  I  doubt  it  will  be  far  worse  when  his  head  is 
laid.  Your  sisters  send  their  love  to  you  and  Charles,  and  my  love 
and  blessing  to  you  both.  Adieu." 


MRS.   SUSANNA    \VE8LET.  223 

Letters  from  Mrs.  Wesley  to  others  of  her  children  will  be  noticed 
in  their  proper  places. 

Mr.  Wesley,  though  he  had  lately  sunk  much,  was  not  so  near  death, 
as  Mrs.  Wesley  dreaded.  He  lived  about  three  years  after  this. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  introduce  some  other  letters  of  Mrs.  Wesley 
on  the  subject  of  the  doctrines  and  conduct  of  her  sons  John  and 
Charles,  because  the  late  Rev.  Samuel  Badcock,  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
John  Nichols,  dated  South  Moulton,  Dec.  5,  1782,  and  published  by 
Mr.  N.  first  in  No.  xx,  of  the  Bibliotheca  Topographica  Britannica, 
and  afterward  in  his  Literary  Jlnecdotes  of  Ike  Eighteenth  Century, 
vol.  v,  p.  217,  &c,  and  since  copied  by  others,  speaking  of  Mrs.  Wesley, 
says,  "  She  lived  long  enough  to  deplore  the  extravagancies  of  her  two 
sons  John  and  Charles.  She  considered  them  as  under  strong  delu- 
sions to  believe  a  lie ;  and  states  her  objections  to  their  enthusiastic 
principles  (particularly  in  the  matter  of  assurance)  with  great  strength 
of  argument,  in  a  correspondence  with  their  brother  Samuel."  This 
calumny,  for  it  is  one,  may  be  easily  rebutted.  Mr.  John  Wesley 
answers  it  thus,  quoting  the  first  paragraph  about  deploring  their 
extravagancies,  &c, — "  By  vile  misrepresentations  she  was  deceived 
for  a  time,  but  she  no  sooner  heard  them  speak  for  themselves,  than 
she  was  thoroughly  convinced  they  were  in  no  delusion,  but  spoke  the 
words  of  truth  and  soberness.  She  afterward  lived  with  me  several 
years,  and  died  rejoicing  and  praising  God." 

That  what  Mr.  Wesley  states  here  of  his  mother  is  true,  I  can  prove 
by  the  most  unexceptionable  testimonies  from  under  her  own  hand. 
Dr.  Whitehead  has  treated  the  subject  well.  I  shall  give  some  extracts 
in  his  own  words. 

"  When  her  two  sons  Mr.  John  and  Charles  Wesley  began  to  preach 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  in  1738,  and  many  professed  to  be 
so  justified,  and  to  know  the  time  when  this  change  in  their  state  took 
place ;  she  mentions  their  notions  as  new,  in  a  letter  she  wrote  to  her 
son  Samuel,  in  March  this  year ;  (1738 ;)  though  it  must  be  acknow- 
ledged that  she  had  not  then  conversed  with  them  on  the  subject,  and 
therefore  did  not  know  what  doctrines  they  taught,  but  by  report.  It 
has  indeed  been  said  that  '  she  lived  long  enough  to  deplore  the 
extravagancies  of  her  sons ;'  and  this  assertion  was  founded  on  the 
letter  above  mentioned.  But  what  she  says  on  this  subject  has  only 
a  reference  to  dreams,  visions,  or  some  extraordinary  revelation,  which 
some  persons  pretended  to  have  had ;  and  in  which  they  had  received 
the  knowledge  of  their  justification ;  at  least  this  was  reported  of 
several :  but  she  no  where  charges  her  sons  with  teaching  this  as  tho 
way  of  justification. 

'•  But  as  this  letter  has  been  both  misrepresented  and  misunderstood, 
and  it  might  be  thought  Mr.  Wesley's  friends  wished  to  conceal  it, 
because  it  speaks  so  pointedly  against  the  conduct  of  her  sons,  I  shall 
give  the  whole  of  it,  and  subjoin  a  few  remarks. 

»  Thursday,  March  8,  1738-9. 

'  DEAR  SON, — Your  two  double  letters  came  safe  to  me  last  Friday. 
1  thank  you  for  them,  and  have  received  much  satisfaction  in  reading 


224  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

them.  They  are  written  with  good  spirit  and  judgment,  sufficient  I 
should  think  16  satisfy  any  unprejudiced  mind,  that  the  reviving  these 
pretensions  to  dreams,  visions,  &c,  is  not  only  vain  and  frivolous  as  to 
the  matter  of  them,  but  also  of  dangerous  consequence  to  the  weaker 
sort  of  Christians.  You  have  well  observed,  '  that  it  is  not  the  method 
of  Providence  to  use  extraordinary  means  to  bring  about  that  for  which 
ordinary  ones  are  sufficient.'  Therefore  the  very  end  for  which  they 
pretend  that  these  new  revelations  are  sent  seems  to  me  one  of  the 
best  arguments  against  the  truth  of  them.  As  far  as  I  can  see,  they 
plead  that  these  visions,  &c,  are  given  to  assure  some  particular 
persons  of  their  adoption  and  salvation.  But  this  end  is  abundantly 
provided  for  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  wherein  all  may  find  the  rules  by 
which  we  must  live  here  and  be  judged  hereafter  so  plainly  laid  down< 
1  that  he  who  runs  may  read ;'  and  it  is  by  these  laws  we  should 
examine  ourselves,  which  is  a  way  of  God's  appointment,  and  therefore 
we  may  hope  for  his  direction  and  assistance  in  such  examination. 
And  if,  upon  a  serious  review  of  our  state,  we  find  that  in  the  tenor  of 
our  lives  we  have  or  do  now  sincerely  desire  and  endeavour  to  perform 
the  conditions  of  the  Gospel  covenant  required  on  our  parts,  then  we 
may  discern  that  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  laid  in  our  minds  a  good  founda- 
tion of  a  strong  reasonable  and  lively  hope  of  God's  mercy  through 
Christ. 

4  This  is  the  assurance  we  ought  to  aim  at,  which  the  apostle  calls, 
the  full  assurance  of  hope,  which  he  admonishes  us  to  hold  fast  unto 
the  end.  And  the  consequence  of  encouraging  fanciful  people  in  this 
new  way  of  seeking  assurance,  (as  all  do  that  hear  them  tell  their  silly 
stories,  without  rebuke*)  I  think  must  be  turning  them  out  of  God's 
way  into  one  of  their  own  devising.  You  have  plainly  proved  that  the 
Scripture  examples,  and  that  text  in  Joel,  which  they  urge  in  their 
defence,  will  not  answer  their  purpose,  so  that  they  are  unsupported  by 
any  authority  human  or  Divine  ;  (which  you  have  well  observed  ;)  and 
the  credit  of  their  relations  must  therefore  depend  on  their  own  single 
affirmation,  which  surely  will  not  weigh  much  with  the  sober,  judicious 
part  of  mankind. 

'  I  began  to  write  to  Charles  before  I  last  wrote  to  you,  but  could 
not  proceed ;  for  my  chimney  smoked  so  exceedingly,  that  I  almost 
lost  my  sight,  and  remained  well  nigh  blind  a  considerable  time. 
God's  blessing  on  eye  water  I  make  cured  me  of  the  soreness :  but 
the  weakness  long  remained.  Since,  I  have  been  informed  that  Mr. 
Hall  intends  to  remove  his  family  to  London,  hath  taken  a  house ; 
and  I  must  (if  it  please  God  I  live)  go  with  them,  where  I  hope  to  see 
Charles :  and  then  I  can  fully  speak  my  sentiments  of  their  new  notions^ 
more  than  I  can  do  by  writing ;  therefore  I  shall  not  finish  my  letter 
to  him. 

*  You  have  heard,  I  suppose,  that  Mr.  Whitejield  is  taking  a  progress 
through  these  parts  to  make  a  collection  for  a  house  in  Georgia  for 
orphans,  and  such  of  the  natives'  children  as  they  will  part  with  to 
learn  our  language  and  religion-  He  came  hither  to  see  me,  and  we 
talked  about  your  brothers.  I  told  him  I  did  not  like  their  way  of 
living,  wished  them  in  some  place  of  their  own,  wherein  they  might 


MRS.   SUSANNA  WESLEY.  225 

regularly  preach,  &c.  He  replied,  I  could  not  conceive  the  good  they 
did  in  London  ;  that  the  greatest  part  of  our  clergy  wave  asleep,  and 
that  there  never  was  a  greater  need  of  itinerant  preachers  than  now. 
Upon  which  a  gentleman  that  came  with  him  said,  that  my  son  Charles 
had  converted  him,  and  that  my  sons  spent  all  their  time  in  doing  good. 
I  then  asked  Mr.  Whitefield  if  my  sons  were  not  for  making  some 
innovations  in  the  Church ;  which  I  much  feared.  He  assured  me 
they  were  so  far  from  it,  that  they  endeavoured  all  they  could  to  recon- 
cile Dissenters  to  our  communion ;  that  my  son  John  had  baptized 
five  adult  Presbyterians  in  our  own  way  on  St.  Paul's  day,  and  he 
believed  would  bring  over  many  to  our  communion.  His  stay  was  short, 
so  I  could  not  talk  with  him  so  much  as  I  desired.  He  seems  to  be  a 
very  good  man,  and  one  who  truly  desires  the  salvation  of  mankind. 
God  grant  that  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  may  be  joined  to  the  inno- 
cence of  the  dove! 

*  My  paper  and  sight  are  almost  at  an  end ;  therefore  I  shall  only 
add,  that  I  send  you  and  yours  my  hearty  love  and  blessing. 

4  Service  to  Mrs.  Berry.  I  had  not  an  opportunity  to  send  this  till 
Saturday  the  17th  ult.  Love  and  blessing  to  Jacky  Ellison. 

4  Pray  let  me  hear  from  you  soon.     We  go  in  April. 

From  Mrs.  WESLEY,  Epwotth. 

4  For  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wesley, 
Tiverton,  Devon.' 

44 1.  I  have  now  laid  before  the  reader  every  word  of  this  so  celebrated 
letter ;  and  beg  him  carefully  to  observe,  that  it  is  not  against  her  sons, 
properly  speaking,  but  against  the  persons  who  in  dreams  and  visions 
professed  to  have  received  an  assurance  of  God's  love  to  their  souls. 
Such  are  the  persons  whom  she  means  when  she  says,  they  pretend — 
they  plead — -fanciful  people — who  tell  their  silly  stories — and  whose 
relations  must  depend  on  their  mon  single  affirmation,  &c,  &c.  In 
none  of  these  does  she  refer  to  her  sons  at  all :  but  she  refers  to  them, 
when  she  blames  those  for  not  rebuking  them,  iclw  hear  them  tell  such 
stories. 

"  2.  When  Mrs.  Wesley  wrote  this  letter  she  had  had  no  interview 
with  her  sons,  and  had  only  heard  of  what  were  called  extravagancies 
which  were  produced  under  their  preaching ;  and  this  she  had  from  her 
prejudiced  son  Samuel,  who  had  his  information  from  the  letter  of  a 
Mrs.  Hulton,  at  whose  house  they  had  lodged  at  Westminster;  and 
this  letter  is  so  perfectly  weak  and  nonsensical,  that  it  would  be  an 
insult  to  the  reader  to  lay  it  seriously  before  him. 

44  On  this  most  stupid  and  foolish  letter  Mr.  Samuel  founded  all  the 
philippics  on  the  conduct  of  his  brothers,  which  he  detailed  in  his  letter 
to  his  mother ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say,  after  looking  over  the  whole  of 
the  evidence,  that  so  bigoted  was  Mr.  Samuel,  that  he  readily  caught 
at  any  thing  that  appeared  to  vilify  that  part  of  the  conduct  of  his 
brothers,  because  they  preached  extempore,  and  because  when  excluded 
from  the  churches  in  London,  they  would  dare  to  preach  in  any  part  of 
that  diocess  ;  which  he  roundly  asserts  was  downright  schism  ,  and  he 
might  with  as  much  reason  have  called  it  downright  burglary.  Hia 

29 


226  OF    MR.    WESLET'a    ANCESTORS. 

prejudiced  representations  and  misrepresentations  should  weigh  nothing 
on  the  questi&n.  Beside,  his  expositions  of  the  texts  he  quotes  as  the 
scriptures  adduced  by  his  brothers  to  vindicate  their  ministry,  and 
account  for  their  effects,  are  far  from  being  legitimate. 

"  3.  At  this  time  Mrs.  Wesley's  knowledge  of  the  plan  of  salvation 
was  by  no  means  clear  and  distinct ;  of  this  one  passage  in  her  letter  is 
a  sufficient  proof.  In  the  place  where  she  shows  the  mode  people 
should  adopt  in  order  to  find  a  rational  assurance  of  their  salvation,  she 
says,  '  If  upon  a  serious  review  of  our  state  we  find  in  the  tenor  of  our 
lives,  we  have,  or  do  now  sincerely  desire  and  endeavour  to  perform 
the  conditions  of  the  Gospel  covenant  required  on  our  parts,  then  we 
may  discern  that  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  laid  in  our  minds  a  good  found- 
ation of  a  strong,  reasonable.,  and  lively  hope  of  God's  mercy  through 
Christ.' " 

Now,  who  that  knows  properly  the  way  in  which  a  sinner  is  to  come 
to  God  through  Christ  for  the  remission  of  his  sins,  can  suppose  that 
Mrs.  W.  was  acquainted  with  that  way  when  she  wrote  this  1  It  simply 
amounts  to  salvation  by  works,  through  the  merits  of  Christ.  But  sup- 
pose any  man  examining  the  tenor  of  his  life  by  Mrs.  Wesley's  rule  in 
order  to  infer  salvation  from  it,  finds  that  HE  has  NOT  fulfilled  the  con- 
ditions of  the  Gospel  covenant,  (and  every  man  that  makes  the  inquiry 
with  an  honest  mind  in  the  fear  of  God  will  find  this  ;) — what  is  he  then 
to  do  1  His  condition  on  this  ground  is  hopeless.  He  has  fulfilled  no 
conditions ;  for  he  is  and  has  been  a  sinner,  and  is  under  the  curse  of 
God's  law.  Where  shall  his  trembling  soul  fly  for  mercy  ?  To  the 
blood  of  the  covenant — to  him  who  justifies  the  ungodly  ;  and  he  is  to 
seek  for  mercy  through  that  blood  alone.  And  what  peace  can  his  con- 
science feel,  or  what  assurance  can  he  have  that  his  sins  are  blotted 
out — that  he  is  passed  from  death  unto  life — till  God  adopts  him  into 
the  heavenly  family  ;  and  because  he  is  then  a  son,  God  sends  forth  the 
Spirit  of  his  Son  into  his  heart,  crying,  Abba,  Father !  No  salvation 
by  induction  or  inference  can  satisfy  a  guilty  conscience,  which  feels 
the  wrath  of  God  abiding  on  it ;  nothing  but  the  witness  from  God's 
Spirit  in  our  own  spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God,  can  appease 
the  terrors  of  an  awakened  sinner,  give  rest  to  a  troubled  heart,  or  be 
a  foundation  on  which  the  soul  can  build  a  rational  and  Scriptural  hope 
of  eternal  life.  Mrs.  Wesley  herself  was  obliged  to  come  at  last  simply 
to  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  which  was  shed  for  her ;  and  then  she  re- 
ceived without  any  reference  to  her  past  righteousness,  the  full  witness 
of  God's  Spirit  that  she  was  born  from  above.  And  though  I  conceive 
her  to  have  been  long  before  this  in  a  state  of  favour  with  God,  on  the 
broad  ground  that  he  who  feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness, 
according  to  his  light,  is  accepted  of  him  ;  yet  she  had  not  the  satisfying 
evidence  of  her  own  salvation,  till  she  came,  as  above  stated,  to  that 
sacrificial  death  by  which  pardon  was  purchased  for  a  guilty  world.  As 
soon  as  she  conversed  with  her  sons,  and  heard  them  speak  for  them- 
selves, she  was  convinced  that  their  doctrine  was  both  rational  and 
Scriptural,  and  saw  the  wickedness  of  the  charges  that  were  brought 
against  them.  At  this  very  time  in  which  she  wrote  the  letter  she 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLET.  227 

heard  Mr.  George  JVhiteJield  speak  for  himstlf;  and  though  he  was 
much  less  argumentative  than  her  son  John,  and  couljknot  give  that 
clear  description  of  the  hope  that  was  in  him  as  her  stfft  could  have 
done,  yet  she  was  fully  convinced  that  he  was  right — that  he  was  a  very 
good  man — one  «>/io  truly  desired  the  salvation  of  mankind  ;  and  satis- 
fied of  his  dovelike  innocence,  prayed  that  he  might  have  wisdom  suffi- 
cient to  guard  it. 

She  had  doubted  and  feared  concerning  her  sons,  because  she  was 
misled  by  her  son  Samuel,  who  was  misled  by  Mrs.  Button,  who  was 
misled  by  her  total  want  of  capacity  to  judge  of  such  matters  ;  and  who 
was  horribly  offended  with  Mr.  John  Wesley,  because  she  said  he  had 
converted  two  of  her  children.  That  is,  he  had  become  the  instrument 
in  the  hand  of  God  of  awakening  their  conscience,  and  leading  them  to 
"  the  Lamb  of  God  who  takes  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

In  reference  to  Mrs.  Hutlon,  who  wrote  so  virulently  against  his  con- 
duct, to  Mr.  Samuel,  representing  him  as  little  less  than  a  maniac, — 

"  The  very  head  and  front  of  his  offending 
Had  this  extent,  no  more. — " 

We  shall  probably  see  more  on  this  subject  when  we  come  to  the  life 
of  Mr.  John  Wesley. 

"  The  following  extracts  from  three  of  her  letters  to  Mr.  Charles 
Wesley  will  show  us  her  opinion  of  the  doctrine  and  conduct  of  her  son* 
more  clearly  than  any  thing  which  has  yet  appeared  in  print : — 

»  Oct.  19,  1738. 

1  It  is  with  much  pleasure  I  find  your  mind  is  somewhat  easier  than 
formerly,  and  I  heartily  thank  God  for  it.  The  spirit  of  man  may  sus- 
tain his  infirmity  :  — but  a  wounded  spirit  who  can  bear  ?  If  this  hath 
been  your  case,  it  has  been  sad  indeed.  But  blessed  be  God  who  gave 
you  convictions  of  the  evil  of  sin,  as  contrary  to  the  purity  of  the  Divine 
nature,  and  the  perfect  goodness  of  his  law.  Blessed  be  God,  who 
showed  you  the  necessity  you  were  in  of  a  Saviour  to  deliver  you  from 
the  power  of  sin  and  Satan,  (for  Christ  will  be  no  Saviour  to  such  as 
see  not  their  need  of  one,)  and  directed  you  by  faith  to  lay  hold  of  that 
stupendous  mercy  offered  us  by  redeeming  love.  Jesus  is  the  only 
physician  of  souls :  his  blood  the  only  salve  that  can  heal  a  wounded 
conscience. 

*  It  is  not  in  wealth,  or  honour,  or  sensual  pleasure,  to  relieve  a  spirit 
heavy  laden  and  weary  of  the  burthen  of  sin.     These  things  have  power 
to  increase  our  guilt,  by  alienating  our  hearts  from  God :  but  none  to 
make  our  peace  with  him  ;  to  reconcile  God  to  man,  and  man  to  God  ; 
and  to  renew  the  union  between  the  Divine  and  human  nature. 

*  No,  there  is  none  but  Christ,  none  but  Christ,  who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things.     But,  blessed  be  God,  he  is  an  all-sufficient  Saviour ! 
and  blessed  be  his  holy  name,  that  thou  hast  found  him  a  Saviour  to 
thee,  my  son !  0  let  ua  love  him  much,  for  we  have  much  to  be  forgiven. 

'  I  would  gladly  know  what  your  notion  is  of  justifying  faith,  because 
you  speak  of  it  as  a  thing  you  have  hut  lately  received.' 


OF  MK.  LESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

'•  The  second  letter  is  dated  Dec.  6,  1738.     In  it  she  says  : — 

•  I  think  ydB*are  fallen  into  an  odd  way  of  thinking.     You  say  that 
till  within  a  few  months  you  had  no  spiritual  life,  nor  any  justifying 
faith. 

*  Now  this  is  as  if  a  man  should  affirm  he  was  not  alive  in  his  infancy, 
because,  when  an  infant,  he  did  not  know  he  was  alive.     All  then  that 
I  can  gather  from  your  letter  is,  that  till  a  little  while  ago,  you  were  not 
so  well  satisfied  of  your  being  a  Christian  as  you  are  now.     I  heartily 
rejoice  that  you  have  now  attained  to  a  strong  and  lively  hope  in  God's 
mercy  through  Christ.     Not  that  I  can  think  that  you  were  totally 
without  saving  faith  before :  but  it  is  one  thing  to  have  faith,  and  an- 
other thing  to  be  sensible  we  have  it.     Faith  is  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit, 
and  the  gift  of  God  :  but  to  feel  or  be  inwardly  sensible  that  we  have 
true  faith,  requires  a  farther  operation  of  God's  Holy  Spirit.     You  say 
you  have  peace,  but  not  joy  in  believing :  Blessed  be  God  for  peace  ! 
May  this  peace  rest  with  you!  Joy  will  follow,  perhaps  not  very  closely  : 
but  it  will  follow  faith  and  love.     God's  promises  are  sealed  to  us,  but 
not  dated  :  therefore  patiently  attend  his  pleasure  ;  he  will  give  you  joy 
in  believing.     Amen.' 

"  From  these  letters  we  see  that  Mrs.  Wesley  was  so  far  from  de- 
ploring the  extravagance  of  her  sons,  that  she  rejoiced  in  their  Christian 
experience,  and  praised  God  for  it.  She  thought  them  mistaken  in 
judging  of  their  former  state,  but  not  in  their  notions  of  justifying  faith 
itself;  for  she  says  in  the  letter  last  mentioned, — 

4  My  notion  of  justifying  faith  is  the  same  with  yours  ;  for  that  trust- 
ing in  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  promises  made  in  him,  is  that  special  act  of 
faith  to  which  our  justification  or  acceptance  is  so  frequently  ascribed 
iu  the  Gospel.  This  faith  is  certainly  the  gift  of  God,  wrought  in  the 
mind  of  man  by  the  Holy  Spirit.' 

"  The  two  Mr.  Wesleys  professed  to  know  the  time  when  they  re- 
ceived justifying  faith  ;  and  they  taught  that  others  might  know  the 
time  of  their  justification.  On  this  head  she  observes  : — 

'  I  do  not  judge  it  necessary  to  know  the  exact  time  of  our  conversion.' 

"  From  which  it  appears  that  she  did  not  think  this  part  of  their  doc- 
trine erroneous  or  extravagant :  she  was  only  afraid  lest  this  circum- 
stance should  be  made  a  necessary  criterion  of  conversion,  which  she 
thought  might  hurt  the  minds  of  weaker  Christians. 

"  These  letters,  therefore,  are  a  full  confutation  of  Mr.  Badcock's 
assertion. 

"The  third  letter  is  dated  Dec.  27,  1739,  after  she  had  come  to 
reside  chiefly  in  London.  Here  she  enjoyed  the  conversation  of  her 
sons  alternately  ;  the  one  being  always  in  town,  while  the  other  was  in 
the  country.  She  now  attended  on  their  ministry,  conversed  with  the 
people  of  the  society,  and  became  more  perfectly  acquainted  with  their 
whole  doctrine,  and  seems  heartily  to  have  embraced  it.  Charles  was 
in  Bristol  when  she  wrote  this  letter  to  him.  She  observes : — 

'  You  cannot  more  desire  to  see  me,  than  I  do  to  see  you.  Your 
brother,  whom  I  shall  henceforth  call  son  Wesley,  since  my  dear  .Sam 
is  gone  home,  has  just  been  with  me,  and  much  revived  my  spirits. 


MRS.   SUSANNA   WESLEY.  229 

Indeed  I  have  often  found  that  he  never  speaks  in  my  hearing  without 
my  receiving  some  spiritual  benefit.  But  his  visits  pjre  seldom  and 
short ;  for  which  I  never  blame  him,  because  1  know  he  is  well  em- 
ployed ;  and,  blessed  be  God !  hath  great  success  in  his  ministry.  But, 
my  dear  Charles,  still  I  want  either  him  or  you.  For  indeed,  in  the 
most  literal  sense,  I  am  become  a  little  child,  and  want  continual  suc- 
cour. "As  iron  sharpeneth  iron,  so  doth  the  countenance  of  a  man  his 
friend."  I  feel  much  comfort  and  support  from  religious  conversation 
when  I  can  obtain  it.  Formerly  I  rejoiced  in  the  absence  of  company  ; 
and  found  the  less  I  had  of  creature  comforts,  the  more  I  had  from 
God.  But,  alas !  I  am  fallen  from  that  spiritual  converse  I  once  en- 
joyed. And  why  is  it  so  ?  Because  I  want  faith.  God  is  an  omnipre- 
sent, unchangeable  Good,  in  whom  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow 
of  turning:  the  fault  is  in  myself;  and  I  attribute  all  mistakes  in  judg- 
ment, and  all  errors  in  practice,  to  want  of  faith  in  the  blessed  Jesus. 
O,  my  dear,  when  I  consider  the  dignity  of  his  person,  the  perfection 
of  his  purity,  the  greatness  of  his  sufferings,  but  above  all  his  boundless 
love,  I  am  astonished  and  utterly  confounded  ;  I  am  lost  in  thought.  I 
fall  into  nothing  before  him !  O  how  inexcusable  is  that  person  who 
has  knowledge  of  these  things,  and  yet  remains  poor  and  low  in  faith 
and  love !  I  speak  as  one  guilty  in  this  matter. 

1 1  have  been  prevented  from  finishing  my  letter.  I  complained  I 
had  none  to  converse  with  me  on  spiritual  things  ;  but  for  these  several 
days  I  have  had  the  conversation  of  many  good  Christians,  who  have 
refreshed  in  some  measure  my  fainting  spirits ;  and  though  they  hin- 
dered my  writing,  yet  it  was  a  pleasing,  and  I  hope  not  an  unprofitable 
interruption  they  gave  me.  I  hope  we  shall  shortly  speak  face  to  face ; 
and  I  shall  then,  if  God  permit,  impart  my  thoughts  more  fully.  But 
then,  alas !  when  you  come,  your  brother  leaves  me !  yet  that  is  the 
will  of  God,  in  \vhose  blessed  service  you  are  engaged  ;  who  has 
hitherto  blessed  your  labours,  and  preserved  your  persons.  That  he 
may  continue  so  to  prosper  your  work,  and  protect  you  both  from  evil, 
and  give  you  strength  and  courage  to  preach  the  true  Gospel  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  united  powers  of  evil  men  and  evil  angels,  is  the  hearty 
prayer  of,  dear  Charles,  your  loving  mother, 

4  SUSANNA  WESLEY.' 

"  This  letter  gives  full  evidence  that  Mrs.  Wesley  cordially  approved 
of  the  conduct  of  her  sons  ;  and  was  animated  with  zeal  for  the  success 
of  their  labours.  She  continued  in  the  most  perfect  harmony  with 
them  till  her  death  :  attending  on  their  ministry,  and  walking  in  the  light 
of  God's  countenance,  she  rejoiced  in  the  happy  experience  of  the  truths 
she  heard  them  preach." — Dr.  Whitehead's  Life,  vol.  i,  pp.  49-54. 

It  appears  from  all  we  have  seen  of  Mrs.  Wesley  that  she  was  a 
woman  of  real  experience  in  the  things  of  God.  But  it  does  not  appear 
that  she  had  a  clear  notion  of  justification  as  distinct  from  sanctifica- 
tion  ;  on  the  contrary  she  seems  to  have  confounded  them  together. 
The  consequence  was,  that  her  knowledge  of  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  alone,  without  the  deeds  of  the  law,  was  not  so  clear  as 
it  might  have  been;  and  this  hindered  her  from  enjoying  that  full 


230  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

assurance  of  her  state,  and  the  peace  and  joy  consequent  upon  it, 
which  otherwise  she  would  have  had. 

To  have  denied  the  witness  of  God's  Spirit,  or  the  assurance  of  our 
adoption,  Mrs.  Wesley  must  have  strangely  forgotten  herself;  for  it 
was  one  part  of  her  creed,  and  one  point  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  accord- 
ing to  her  own  exposition,  that  believing  in  the  Holy  Ghost  implies 
believing  that  he  assures  «*  of  our  adoption.  See  her  letter  to  her 
daughter  Susan,  already  inserted. 

As  to  the  doctrine  of  assurance,  (or  the  knowledge  of  our  salvation 
by  the  remission  of  sins  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  a  man  who  is  justified 
by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  knows  that  he  is  so,  the  Spirit  bearing  witness 
with  his  spirit  that  he  is  a  child  of  God,)  against  which  such  a  terrible 
outcry  has  been  made,  I  would  beg  leave  to  ask,  What  is  Christianity 
without  it  1  A  mere  system  of  ethics  ;  an  authentic  history ;  a  dead  let- 
ter. It  is  by  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  souls  of  believers 
that  the  connection  is  kept  up  between  heaven  and  earth.  The  grand 
principle  of  the  Christian  religion  is,  to  reconcile  men  to  God  by  Christ 
Jesus  ;  to  bring  them  from  a  state  of  wrath  to  reconciliation  and  favour 
with  God ;  to  break  the  poicer,  cancel  the  guilt,  and  destroy  the  very 
being  of  sin ; — for  Christ  was  manifested  that  he  might  destroy  the 
work  of  the  devil.  And  can  this  be  done  in  any  human  soul,  and  it 
know  nothing  about  it,  except  by  inference  and  conjecture  ?  Miserable 
state  of  Christianity  indeed,  where  no  man  knows  that  he  is  born  of 
God.  This  assurance  of  God's  love  is  the  birthright  and  common  pri- 
vilege of  all  his  children.  It  is  a  general  experience  among  truly  reli- 
gious people  :  they  take  rest,  rise  up,  work,  and  live  under  its  influence. 
By  it  they  are  carried  comfortably  through  all  the  ills  of  life,  bring  forth 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  triumph  in  redeeming  grace,  and  die  exulting  in 
Him  whom  they  know  and  feel  to  be  the  God  of  their  salvation. 

Nor  is  this  confined  to  superannuated  women,  as  Mr.  Southey  (vol. 
i,  p.  291)  charitably  hopes  Mrs.  Wesley  was,  when  she  professed  to 
receive  the  knowledge  of  salvation  by  the  remission  of  sins.  Men  also 
as  learned  as  Mr.  Badcock,  as  philosophical  as  Mr.  Southey,  as  deeply 
read  in  men  and  things  as  Bishop  Lavington,  and  as  sound  divines  at 
least  as  the  rector  of  J\lanaccan,  have  exulted  in  the  same  testimony, 
walked  in  all  good  conscience  before  God,  illustrated  the  doctrine  by  ti{ 
nuitable  deportment,  and  died  full  of  joyful  anticipation  of  an  eternal 
glory !  Alas,  what  a  dismal  tale  do  those  men  tell,  who  not  only  strive 
to  argue  against  the  doctrine,  but  endeavour  to  turn  it  into  ridicule. 
They  tell  us,  that  they  are  not  reconciled  to  God  ! 

Mr.  Badcock's  sneers  at  the  matter  of  assurance  as  he  calls  it,  and 
the  extravagancies  of  Mr.  John  and  Charles  W'esley,  were  little  in  cha- 
racter. He  was  a  learned  man,  an  able  critic,  and  generally  allowed 
to  be  mild  and  liberal.  But  who  can  reconcile  this  general,  and  pro- 
bably well  deserved  character,  with  the  concluding  part  of  the  paragraph 
above  referred  to?  "  Their  brother  Samuel  exerted  his  best  powers  to 
reclaim  them  from  their  wanderings,  but  in  vain !  The  extravagant 
and  erring  spirit  could  not  be  reduced  to  its  own  confine.  It  had  burst 
its  bonds  asunder,  and  ran  violently  down  the  steep." 

This  was  still  less  in  character,  when  we  consider  Mr.  Badcork  a 


MRS.  SUSANNA  WESLET.  231 

Dissenting  minister,  for  such  he  was  in  1782,  when  he  wrote  the  above 
letter,  and  for  many  years  before ;  though  he  afterward  conformed, 
and  entered  the  Church,  in  the  year  1786  ;  and  his  creed  with  respect 
to  the-  doctrine  of  assurance,  as  existing  in  the  Assembly's  Catechism, 
must  have  been  the  same,  in  words  at  least,  with  that  of  Mr.  Wesley. 

For  the  reader's  amusement  I  shall  note  the  place. 

"  Quest.  31.  What  are  the  benefits  which  in  this  life  do  either 
accompany  or  flow  from  justification,  adoption,  and  sanctification  ? 

"  Answer.  Assurance  of  God's  love,  peace  of  conscience,  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  increase  of  grace,  and  perseverance  therein  unto  the  end." 

And  the  following  scriptures  are  quoted  to  establish  these  assertions : 
Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  PEACE  with  God  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  By  whom  also  ice  have  ACCESS  by  faith  into  this  grace, 
wherein  we  stand,  and  REJOICE  in  HOPE  of  the  glory  of  God.  And  hope 
makelh  not  ashamed,  because  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD'  is  SHED  ABROAD  m 

OUR  HEARTS  BY   THE   HoLY   GHOST   WHICH  IS  GIVEN    UNTO   US,  Rom. 

xiv,  1,  2,  5.  For  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink  ;  but  right- 
eousness, PEACE  and  JOY  in  the  HOLY  GHOST,  Rom.  xiv,  17.  These 
things  have  1  written  unto  you  thai  believe  on  the  name  of  the  Son  of 

God,   THAT  YE  MAY  KNOW  YE   HAVE  ETERNAL  LIFE,   1  John  V,  13. 

Here  then  is  the  "  matter  of  assurance,"  which  the  Methodists  have 
preached,  do  preach,  and  I  hope  will  preach,  as  long  as  they  have  a 
name  to  live  upon  the  earth.  And  these  scriptures  are  full  to  the  point ; 
and  fully  prove  that  every  sinner,  who  by  hearty  repentance  and  true 
faith  returns  unto  the  Lord,  through  Christ  Jesus,  receives  remission  of 
sins,  and  has  the  witness  in  himself. 

Perhaps  the  most  irregular  part  of  Mr.  Wesley's  conduct  was  his 
employing  lay  preachers,  persons  without  any  ordination  by  the  impo- 
sition of  hands ;  and  the  fullest  proof  that  we  can  have  of  Mrs.  Wes- 
ley's approving  most  heartily  every  thing  in  doctrine  and  discipline  of 
her  sons,  was  her  approval  of  lay  preaching,  or,  to  use  the  words  of  her 
father-in-law,  John  Wesley  of  Whitchurch,  "  the  preaching  of  gifted 
men,  without  episcopal  ordination."  This  began  in  her  time ;  and  she 
repeatedly  sat  under  the  ministry  of  the  first  man,  Mr.  Thomas  Jtfoz- 
field,  who  attempted  to  officiate  among  the  Methodists  in  this  hitherto 
unprecedented  way. 

It  was  in  Mr.  Wesley's  absence  that  Mr.  Maxfield  began  to  preach. 
Being  informed  of  this  new  and  extraordinary  thing,  he  hastened  back 
to  London  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  Before  he  took  any  decisive  step,  he 
spoke  to  his  mother  on  the  subject,  and  informed  her  of  his  intention. 
She  said,  (I  have  had  the  account  from  Mr.  Wesley  himself,)  "  My 
son,  I  charge  you  before  God,  beware  what  you  do  ;  for  Thomas  Max- 
field  is  as  much  called  to  preach  the  Gospel  as  ever  you  were !"  The 
unction  of  God  that  attended  the  preaching  convinced  her  that  the 
preacher's  call  was  from  Heaven.  This  was  one  of  the  last  things  that 
a  person  of  such  high  Church  principles  might  be  expected  to  accede 
to.  And  this  fact,  with  what  is  related  above,  will  for  ever  obliterate 
the  calumny  cast  upon  tliis  blessed  woman,  that  she  lived  long  enough 
in  deplore  tlie  extravagancies  of  her  sons. 

Nor  will  the  great  body  of  the  Methodist  preachers  forget  that  Mrs. 


232  OF  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

Wesley,  the  mother  of  their  founder,  was  the  patroness  and  first  encou- 
rager  of  the  lay  preachers  ! 

Mr.  Thomas  Maxfield  was  the  first  lay  preacher  ;  Mr.  Thomas 
Richards,  the  second ;  and  Mr.  Thomas  Westall  the  third.  The  for- 
mer and  latter  I  knew  : — but  who  will  be  the  last,  who  without  any 
ordination  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  shall  officiate  as  an  itinerant 
preacher  in  the  Methodist  connection  ?  That  they  will  soon  have  re- 
course to  this  Scriptural  rite  may  be  safely  conjectured  ;  and  that  they 
should  never  have  been  without  it  may  be  successfully  argued.  Their 
mode  of  admission  into  the  ministry,  it  must  be  granted,  is  sufficiently 
solemn  and  efficient :  but  they  have  no  authority  to  dispense  with  a 
Scriptural  and  apostolic  rite. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  in  1735,  the  family  were  all 
scattered,  and  the  household  goods  and  property  sold,  as  the  premises 
must  be  cleared  for  a  new  incumbent ;  a  heavy  and  distressing  inconve- 
nience in  the  discipline  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  extends  from 
the  lowest  vicar  to  the  metropolitan  of  the  whole  empire. 

Previously  to  this,  some  of  the  sisters  had  been  married  ;  two  were 
with  their  uncle  Matthew  ;  others  were  settled  as  governesses  and  teach- 
ers of  youth,  for  which  they  appear  to  have  been  well  qualified ;  and 
one  (Emily)  had  taken  up  a  school  at  Gainsborough.  With  her  Mrs. 
Wesley  appears  to  have  sojourned  awhile,  before  she  went  to  live  with 
her  sons  John  and  Charles  ;  where,  free  from  cares  and  worldly  anxie- 
ties, with  which  she  had  long  been  unavoidably  encumbered,  she  spent 
the  evening  of  her  life  in  comparative  ease  and  comfort. 

Of  her  last  moments  her  son  John  gives  the  following  account : — 

"  I  left  Bristol  on  the  evening  of  Sunday,  July  18,  (1742,)  and  on 
Tuesday  came  to  London.  I  found  my  mother  on  the  borders  of  eter- 
nity :  but  she  had  no  doubts  nor  fear  ;  nor  any  desire,  but  as  soon  aa 
God  should  call,  to  depart  and  be  ivith  Christ. 

"  Friday  23. — About  three  in  the  afternoon  I  went  to  see  my  mo- 
ther, and  found  her  change  was  near.  I  sat  down  on  the  bedside  :  she 
was  in  her  last  conflict,  unable  to  speak,  but  I  believe  quite  sensible. 
Her  look  was  calm  and  serene,  and  her  eyes  fixed  upward,  while  we 
commended  her  soul  to  God.  From  three  to  four  the  silver  cord  was 
loosing,  and  the  wheel  breaking  at  the  cistern  ;  and  then,  without  any 
struggle,  or  sigh,  or  groan,  the  soul  was  set  at  liberty.  We  stood 
round  the  bed,  and  fulfilled  her  last  request,  uttered  a  little  before  she 
lost  her  speech,  '  Children,  as  soon  as  I  am  released,  sing  a  psalm  of 
praise  to  God.' 

"Sunday,  August  1. — Almost  an  innumerable  company  of  people 
being  gathered  together,  about  five  in  the  afternoon,  I  committed  to  the 
earth  the  body  of  my  mother,  to  sleep  with  her  fathers.  The  portion 
of  Scripture  from  which  I  afterward  spoke  was,  /  saw  a  great  while 
throne,  and  him  that  sat  on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven 
fled  away,  and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  Jlnd  I  saw  the  dead 
small  and  great  stand  before  God,  and  the  books  were  opened.  -And  the 
dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written  in  the  books 
according  to  their  works.  It  was  one  of  the  most  solemn  assemblies 
1  ever  saw,  or  expect  to  see,  on  this  side  eternity. 


MllS.   SUSANNA   WESLEY.  233 

u  \Ve  set  up  a  plain  stone  at  the  head  of  her  grave,  inscribed  with  the 
following  words : — 

Here  lies  the  body  of  Mrs.  SUSANNA  WESLEY,  the  youngest  and  last 
surviving  daughter  of  Dr.  SAMUEL  ANNESLEY — 

In  sure  and  steadfast  hope  to  rise, 
And  claim  her  mansion  in  the  skies : 
A  Christian  here  her  flesh  laid  down, 
The  cross  exchanging  for  a  croum. 

Trite  daughter  of  affliction  she, 
Inured  to  pain  and  misery, 
Mourn'd  a  long  night  of  griefs  and  fears, 
A  legal  night  of  seventy  years. 

The  Father  then  reveal'd  his  Son, 
Him  in  the  broken  bread  made  known. 
She  knew  and  felt  her  sins  forgiven, 
And  found  the  earnest  of  her  heaven. 

Meet  for  the  fellowship  above, 
She  heard  the  call, '  Arise,  my  love.' 
'  I  come!'  her  dying  looks  replied, 
And  lamblike,  as  her  Lord,  she  died." 

The  reader,  who  has  carefully  considered  the  preceding  memoirs,  is 
most  certainly  prepared  for  a  widely  different  epitaph  from  the  preced- 
ing. It  is  trite,  bald,  and  inexpressive.  Her  passive  character  may 
be  said  to  be  given :  she  was  a  daughter  of  affliction  ;  and  suffered 
with  the  highest  resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  and  the  dispensation  of 
his  providence.  But,  as  she  says  herself,  if  she  had  much  affliction  and 
pain,  she  had  still  more  intervals  of  ease  and  health ;  and  she  even 
adduces  her  own  case,  where  afflictions  and  trials  abounded,  as  a 
proof  that  the  blessings  of  life  are  more  numerous  than  its  ills  and  dis- 
advantages ;  and  calculates  that  on  a  fair  estimate  this  will  be  found  to 
be  the  case  with  every  individual. 

The  second  and  third  stanzas  are  incautiously  expressed  :  they  seem 
to  intimate  that  she  was  not  received  into  the  Divine  favour  till  she  was 
seventy  years  of  age  !  For  my  own  part,  after  having  traced  her 
through  all  the  known  periods  of  her  life,  and  taking  her  spiritual  state 
from  her  own  nervous  and  honest  pen,  I  can  scarcely  doubt  that  she 
was  in  the  Divine  favour  long  before  that  time  ;  according  to  that  text, 
lie  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of  him. 
And  though  she  lived  in  a  time  when  the  spiritual  privileges  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God  were  not  so  clearly  defined,  nor  so  well  understood  as  they 
are  at  present ;  yet  she  was  not  without  large  communications  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  heavenly  light,  and  heavenly  ardours,  which  often  caused 
her  to  sit "  like  cherub  bright,  some  moments  on  a  throne  of  love."  She 
had  the  faith  of  God's  elect ;  she  acknowledged  the  truth  which  is  ac- 
cording to  godliness.  Her  spirit  and  life  were  conformed  to  this  truth ; 
and  she  was  not,  as  she  could  not  be,  without  the  favour  and  approba- 
tion of  God. 

But  there  is  -.ifuct  that  seems  to  stand  against  this,  which  is  alluded 
to  in  the  .second  and  third  stanzas,  viz.  that  "  in  receiving  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  her  son-in-law,  Mr.  Hall,  presented 

30 


OF    MR.   WESLEY  8    ANCESTORS. 

her  the  cup  with  these  words, — The  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
which  was  shed  for  THEE,  she  felt  them  strike  through  her  heart ;  and 
she  then  knew  that  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  had  forgiven  her  all  her  sins." 
That  Mrs.  Wesley  did  then  receive  a  powerful  influence  from  the  Holy 
Spirit  I  can  readily  believe,  by  which  she  was  mightily  confirmed  and 
strengthened,  and  had  from  it  the  clearest  evidence  of  her  reconciliation 
to  God ;  but  that  she  had  been  in  a  legal  state,  or,  as  some  have  un- 
derstood that  expression,  was  seeking  justification  by  the  works  of  the 
law  until  then,  I  have  the  most  positive  facts  to  disprove. 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  ministry  was  strong  and  faithful :  but  it  was 
not  clear  on  the  point  of  justification  by  faith,  and  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit.  I  can  say  this  from  the  most  direct  evidence, — several  of  his 
own  MS.  sermons  now  before  me.  To  know  that  we  are  of  God,  by  the 
Spirit  which  he  has  given  us,  he,  and  most  in  his  time,  believed  to  be  the 
privilege  of  a  few,  and  but  of  a.  few  :  hence  the  people  were  not  exhorted 
to  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord ;  and  although  several,  and  among  them 
most  undoubtedly  Mrs.  Wesley,  had  a  measure  of  the  thing,  felt  its 
effects,  and  brought  forth  the  fruits  of  it,  yet  they  knew  not  its  name. 
Mrs.  Wesley  had  long  before  laid  her  burthen  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  ; 
she  had  received  Christ  crucified  as  her  only  Saviour  ;  she  herself 
shows  she  had  trusted  in  nothing  but  the  infinite  merit  of  his  sacrificial 
death  and  intercession ;  she  teas  justified  by  faith,  for  she  had  peace  with 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  gloried  even  in  tribulation,  and 
rejoiced  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God  ;  for  the  love  of  God  was  shed 
abroad  in  her  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  was  given  to  her :  but 
having  little  or  no  acquaintance  with  deeply  religious  people,  and  her 
husband  not  holding  out  this  blessing  as  the  privilege  of  all  true  be- 
lievers, she  knew  not  precisely  her  own  state  ;  and  because  she  did  not 
know  how  to  hold  fast  the  consolations  which  she  had  received,  she 
often,  like  many  others,  fell  into  doubts  and  fears  which  brought  her  into 
temporary  bondage.  But,  in  general,  her  mountain  stood  strong. 

After  her  husband's  death,  when  she  came  to  sit  under  the  clear 
ministry  of  her  sons  John  and  Charles,  and  to  converse  with  many 
pious  and  sensible  members  of  the  society,  her  mind  became  more 
enlightened  in  spiritual  things  ;  she  saw  the  privileges  of  the  people 
of  God,  expected  much  in  the  means  of  grace,  and  received  a  fresh, 
full,  and  clear  evidence  of  her  acceptance  at  the  time  mentioned  above. 

She  had  then  what  the  Methodists  rightly  call  the  abiding  witness  of 
the  Spirit,  and  very  probably  an  application  of  that  blood  which  cleanses 
from  all  unrighteousness.  That  she  had  long  served  God  as  a  master 
under  the  spirit  of  fear,  without  that  love  which  springs  from  a  con- 
sciousness of  his  love,  ( We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us,)  I  am 
ready  enough  to  grant.  This  is,  less  or  more,  the  lot  and  experience 
of  all :  but  that  legal  night  did  not  last  to  her  seventieth  year.  She  was 
long  before  that  in  the  Divine  favour,  and  felt  her  blessedness,  though 
she  could  not  give  it  its  appropriate  name  ;  nor  did  she  feel  its  fulness 
because  she  had  not  the  advantage  of  a  clear  ministry  on  the  subject 
of  salvation  by  faith. 

I  do  not  argue  that  a  person  may  be  justified  and  not  know  it,  or  feel 
the  alteration  in  his  state.  I  think  this  is  a  dangerous  doctrine ;  because 


MRS.    SUSANNA   \\ESLET.  235 

I  am  satisfied  that  it  is  the  privilege  of  every  believer  to  know  he  is  in 
the  Divine  favour.  But  I  contend,  a  person  may  be  justified,  have 
peace  and  joy  in  believing,  and  feel  the  burthen  of  guilt  taken  away 
from  the  conscience,  and  for  a  time  not  know  the  precise  name  of  that 
state  of  grace  in  which  he  stands.  I  have  known  a  very  striking  case 
of  this  kind,  where  the  person,  having  little  acquaintance  with  religious 
people,  after  a  long  night  of  grief,  darkness,  and  distress,  felt  and  was 
astonished  at  the  moral  change  which  had  taken  place  in  his  mind,  but 
knew  not  by  what  name  to  call  it.  His  burthen  of  guilt,  and  he  had 
felt  it  very  heavy,  was  taken  away  :  he  felt  no  condemnation,  he  re- 
joiced in  Christ  Jesus,  and  had  no  confidence  in  the  flesh,  and  brought 
forth  all  the  fruits  of  faith  ;  and  it  was  a  considerable  time  after  this 
change  had  taken  place  before  he  knew  what  God  had  done  for  his 
soul  ;  though  he  felt  and  exulted  in  the  blessedness  he  had  received. 

But  to  return.  What  is  an  epitaph  ?  or  what  should  an  epitaph  be  ? 
A  strongly  condensed  abridgment  of  the  life  of  the  deceased  ;  and  if  a 
pious  person  be  the  subject,  the  epitaph  should  be  a  pointed  exhibition 
of  the  grace  that  was  in  him,  and  his  faithfulness  to  that  grace  ;  and  all 
this  so  recommended  that  the  living  might  lay  it  to  heart,  and  be  excit- 
ed to  a  practical  emulation.  But  how  little  of  this  is  found  in  the  above 
epitaph  !  We  are  not  even  told  that  she  was  the  wife  of  Samuel  Wesley, 
rector  of  Epworth !  Perhaps  modesty  in  the  sons  prevented  them  from 
speaking  in  her  praise :  if  so,  it  was  very  ill-judged.  Had  I  a  muse  of 
the  strongest  pinion,  I  should  not  fear  to  indulge  it  in  its  highest  flights 
in  sketching  out  the  character  of  this  superexcellent  woman.  Mr. 
Southey  has  very  properly  criticised  this  epitaph  :  but  he  mistakes  when 
he  says  that  "  her  sons  represent  her  as  if  she  had  lived  in  ignorance  of 
real  Christianity  during  the  life  of  her  excellent  husband."  They  do 
not,  they  could  not,  do  it.  They  well  knew  she  had  a  profound  know- 
ledge of  Christianity,  nor  was  she  indebted  to  her  husband's  teaching 
for  this  :  but  the  epitaph  represents  her  as  being  to  that  time  destitute 
of  the  knowledge  of  salvation  by  the  remission  of  sins.  A  man  may 
have  a  full  knowledge  of  real  Christianity  without  this  :  but  he  cannot 
without  it  have  an  experimental  knowledge  of  its  saving  power.  How- 
ever, she  had  both,  long  before  that  time.  And  so  fully  acquainted  was 
she  with  the  Christian  system,  and  the  evidences  of  its  Divine  origin, 
that  she  even  taught  wisdom  among  those  that  were  perfect,  those  that 
were  deeply  instructed  in  all  human  learning.  How  Mr.  John  Wesley 
could  consent  to  permit  such  an  epitaph  to  be  inscribed  on  her  head- 
stone, (for  he  certainly  never  composed  it,)  I  cannot  comprehend.  In 
the  late  edition  of  Mr.  Wesley's  works  the  whole  account  is  very  repre- 
hensibly  omitted  in  the  Journal,  and  only  referred  to  as  being  entered 
in  vol.  i,  p.  41,  and  in  this  place  only  the  first  verse  of  the  epitaph  is 
given.  Probably  the  editor  was  as  much  displeased  with  it  as  either 
Mr.  Southey  or  myself. 

Mrs.  Wesley's  character  will  be  best  seen  in  the  preceding  memoirs. 
She  appears  to  have  had  the  advantage  of  a  liberal  education,  as  far  as 
Latin,  Greek,  and  French  enter  into  such  an  education.  She  had  read 
much,  and  thought  much ;  and  thus  her  mind  was  cultivated.  Both 
logic  and  metaphysics  had  formed  a  part  of  her  studies ;  and  these 


236  or  MR.  WESLEY'S  ANCESTORS. 

acquisitions  without  appearing,  for  she  studiously  endeavours  to  con- 
ceal them,  are/e/f  to  great  advantage  in  all  her  writings. 

Sh*e  had  a  strong  and  vigorous  mind,  and  an  undaunted  courage. 
She  feared  no  difficulty ;  and  in  search  of  truth,  at  once  looked  the 
most  formidable  objections  full  in  the  face  ;  and  never  hesitated  to  give 
any  enemy  all  the  vantage  ground  he  could  gain,  when  she  rose  up  to 
defend  either  the  doctrines  or  precepts  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible.  She 
was  not  only  graceful,  but  beautiful,  in  her  person.  Her  sister  Judith, 
painted  by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  is  represented  as  a  very  beautiful  looman. 
One  who  well  knew  both  said,  "  Beautiful  as  Miss  Annesley  appears, 
she  was  far  from  being  so  beautiful  as  Mrs.  Wesley." 

As  a  loife  she  was  affectionate  and  obedient,  having  a  sacred  respect 
for  authority  wherever  lodged.  As  the  mistress  of  a  large  family,  her 
management  was  exquisite  in  all  its  parts ;  and  its  success  beyond 
comparison  or  former  example.  As  a  Christian  she  was  modest,  hum- 
ble, and  pious.  Her  religion  was  as  rational  as  it  was  Scriptural  and 
profound.  In  forming  her  creed  she  dug  deep,  and  laid  her  foundation 
upon  a  rock ;  and  the  storms  and  adversities  of  life  never  shook  it. 
Her  faith  carried  her  through  life,  and  it  was  unimpaired  in  death.  She 
was  a  tender  mother,  a  wise  and  invaluable  friend.  Several  of  her 
children  were  eminent ;  and  HE,  who  excelled  all  the  rest,  owed,  under 
God,  at  least  one  half  of  his  excellencies  to  the  instructions  of  his  mother. 
If  it  were  not  unusual  to  apply  such  an  epithet  to  a  woman,  I  would  not 
hesitate  to  say  she  was  an  able  divine ! 

I  have  traced  her  life  with  much  pleasure,  and  received  from  it  much 
instruction ;  and  when  I  have  seen  her  repeatedly  grappling  with 
gigantic  adversities,  I  have  adored  the  grace  of  God  that  was  in  her, 
and  have  not  been  able  to  repress  my  tears.  I  have  been  acquainted 
with  many  pious  females,  I  have  read  the  lives  of  several  others,  and 
composed  memoirs  of  a  few :  but  such  a  woman  lake  her  for  all  in  all, 
I  have  not  heard  of,  I  have  not  read  of,  nor  with  her  equal  have  I  been 
acquainted.  Such  a  one  Solomon  has  described  in  the  last  chapter  of 
his  Proverbs ;  and  to  her  I  can  apply  the  summed-up  character  of  his 
accomplished  housewife,  Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously :  but 
SUSANNA  WESLEY  has  excelled  them  all. 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  REVEREND  SAMUEL  WESLEY. 

WHERE  the  male  issue  fails,  the  records  of  any  private  family  may 
soon  be  lost ;  in  most  cases,  neither  public  nor  private  interest  is  pro- 
moted by  keeping  up  the  memorial. 

Though  it  is  little  more  than  thirty  years  since  the  founder  of  the 
Methodists  died,  all  knowledge  of  that  part  of  the  family  that  had  no 
public  eminence  is  almost  completely  obliterated.  Out  of  the  nineteen 
children  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  the  names  of  only  eleven  can  be  re- 
covered ;  and  of  most  even  of  these  little  or  nothing  is  known. 

It  is  customary  in  many  country  parishes  to  keep  the  registers  at  the 
parsonage  ftotwc,  because  of  the  damp  of  the  church  and  vestry.  This 


SAMUEL   WESI.ET,   JUN.  237 

was  the  case  at  the  parsonage  .house  at  Epworth;  and  when  it  was 
burned  down  in  1709,  all  these  records  perished  in  the  flames  ;  so  that  the 
genealogy  of  all  the  children  born  in  Epworth  previously  to  this  catas- 
trophe is  lost.  I  have  inquired  upon  the  spot,  and  also  extended  those 
inquiries  to  South  Ormsby  and  Wroole;  and  all  that  I  can  collect  will 
be  given  under  each  name. 

SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUNIOR. 

Of  the  eighteen  or  nineteen  children  which  Mrs.  Wesley  had,  Samuel 
was  undoubtedly  the  eldest,  as  he  was  born  in  London  or  its  vicinity 
before  his  father's  removal  to  South  Ormsby,  which  was  probably  in  the 
beginning  of  1693.  Mr.  Wesley  appears  to  have  married  Miss  S. 
Annesley  in  1690  ;  and  his  son  Samuel  was  born  either  near  the  close 
of  that  year  or  the  beginning  of  the  next.  This  date  may  be  collected 
from  his  epitaph,  which  states  his  death  to  have  taken  place,  "  Nov.  6, 
1739,  in  the  49th  year  of  his  age."  He  must  therefore  have  been  born 
in  1690,  or  in  the  beginning  of  1691.  Whether  he  was  baptized  among 
the  Dissenters,  or  in  some  parochial  Church  in  London,  I  cannot 
Jearn :  the  probability  is,  that  he  was  thus  dedicated  to  God  by  his 
grandfather,  Dr.  Annesley. 

I  have  already  mentioned,  in  the  memoirs  of  Mrs.  Wesley,  that 
Samuel  did  not  speak  till  he  was  between  four  and  five  years  of  age, 
which  was  a  great  grief  to  the  family,  as  they  feared  he  was  born 
dumb.  But  one  day  having  retired  out  of  sight,  as  was  his  frequent 
custom,  to  amuse  himself  with  a  favourite  cat,  hearing  his  mother 
anxiously  calling  him,  he  crept  out  from  under  a  table,  and  said, 
"  Here  I  am,  mother,"  to  the  great  surprise  and  comfort  of  all  the 
family. 

In  1704,  when  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  he  was  sent  to  West- 
minster school ;  and  was  admitted  king's  scholar  in  1707. 

This  school  through  the  extraordinary  abilities  of  Dr.  Busby,  its  late 
master,  then  only  a  few  years  dead,  had  acquired  the  highest  celebrity 
of  any  school  in  Europe.  In  it  Dr.  Busby  had  his  education ;  and, 
after  completing  his  studies  at  Oxford,  he  became  its  head  master  in 
1640.  He  superintended  it  for  fifty-five  years  ;  during  which  time,  by 
his  skill,  diligence,  deep  learning,  and  exact  discipline,  he  bred  up  the 
greatest  number  of  eminent  men  in  Church  and  state,  that  ever  at  one 
time  adorned  any  age  or  nation.  He  died  in  1695,  when  almost  ninety 
years  of  age. 

Where  Dr.  Busby  found  animation,  he  knew  there  was  brain;  and 
proper  cultivation  would  produce  and  extend  intellect;  and  the  apparent 
stupidity  or  dullness  of  the  subject  was  neither  a  bar  to  his  expectations, 
or  a  hinderance  to  his  ultimate  success.  He  had  to  operate  on  minds 
of  various  descriptions,  from  that  of  the  flippant  witling,  down  to  tbat  of 
the  heavy  lumpish  lad,  whose  intellect  seemed  irrecoverably  enveloped 
in  hebitude.  To  Dr.  Busby's  plans,  science,  and  discipline,  every 
thing  yielded  :  and  no  dunce  nor  unlearned  man  was  ever  turned  out 
of  Westminster  school  during  his  incumbency. 

When  Mr.  Wesley  entered  this  school,  all  Dr.  Busby's  plans  wen- 
in  full  operation ;  and  the  elementary  books  which  this  great  master 


238  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JfX. 

had  composed  for  this  institution  were  of  such  a  character  as  at  once 
to  smooth  the  path  of  learning,  till  then  sufficiently  rugged,  and  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  correct  classical  taste  and  profound  literature. — In  the 
present  age  humane  and  learned  men  have  been  endeavouring,  so  to 
speak,  to  find  out  a  royal  road  to  geometry :  difficulties  have  been 
professedly  lessened,  till  at  last  the  foundations  of  science  have  been 
laid  upon  the  sands.  Profound  literature  is  rarely  to  be  met  with. 
We  have  still,  it  is  true,  the  splendour  and  brilliancy  of  gold ;  but  on 
examination  we  frequently  find  a  mass  of  inferior  metal ;  and  even  the 
surface,  though  completely  covered,  yet  not  deeply  gilt. 

Mr.  Wesley  availed  himself  of  the  valuable  advantages  put  within 
his  reach,  and  became  a  thorough  scholar.  He  had  naturally  a  strong 
and  discerning  mind,  which  soon  shone  conspicuous  for  its  correct 
classical  taste.  Of  this  these  memoirs  shall  exhibit  ample  proof. 

We  have  already  seen  what  care  Mrs.  Wesley  took  to  cultivate  the 
minds  of  her  children  ;  and  form  them,  as  far  as  human  influence  and 
teaching  can  extend,  to  religion  and  piety.  As  the  blessing  of  God 
will  never  be  wanting  to  render  such  parental  cares  efficient,  she  saw 
in  every  case  that  her  labour  was  not  in  vain.  As  Samuel  was  her 
first-born,  she  felt  it  her  duty  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  dedicate  him  to 
the  Lord.  Hence  she  was  especially  concerned  for  his  highest  interest; 
and  her  anxious  cares  were  not  lessened  on  his  removal  to  Westminster. 
Thoroughly  apprehensive  of  the  dangers  to  which  he  would  be  exposed 
in  a  public  school,  far  removed  from  the  eye  of  his  parents,  she  endea- 
voured by  a  very  judicious  and  pious  correspondence  to  maintain  the 
good  impressions  which  had  been  made  on  his  mind ;  and  to  show 
him  that  the  new  engagements  into  which  he  was  proposing  to  enter 
required  such  a  steadiness  and  purity  of  conduct  as  could  not  be 
obtained  but  by  a  heart  decidedly  fixed  on  God,  and  making  him  the 
end  of  all  its  operations  and  designs.  As  his  parents  had  dedicated 
him  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  so  it  became  the  object  of  his  own 
choice ;  and  his  literary  pursuits  were  in  the  main  directed  to  this 
end. 

A  letter,  written  to  him  by  his  mother  in  October,  1709,  refers  to  all 
these  circumstances;  and  contains  such  excellent  counsels  and  advices, 
conceived  with  so  much  piety  and  judgment,  and  expressed  with  so 
much  energy  and  dignity  of  language,  as  could  not  fail  to  make  them 
profitable  to  the  son ;  and  must  render  them  useful  to  all  in  similar 
circumstances,  who  may  have  the  opportunity  to  read  them. 

"  I  hope  that  you  retain  the  impressions  of  your  education,  nor  have 
forgot  that  the  vows  of  God  are  upon  you.  You  know  that  the  first 
fruits  are  Heaven's  by  an  unalienable  right ;  and  that  as  your  parents 
devoted  you  to  the  service  of  the  altar,  so  you  yourself  made  it  your 
choice  when  your  father  was  offered  another  way  of  life  for  you.  But 
have  you  duly  considered  what  such  a  choice  and  such  a  dedication 
imports  ?  Consider  well,  what  separation  from  the  world !  what  purity ! 
what  devotion  !  what  exemplary  virtue !  are  required  in  those  who  are 
to  guide  others  to  glory.  I  say  exemplary ;  for  low  common  degrees 
of  piety  are  not  sufficient  for  those  of  the  sacred  function.  You  must 
not  think  to  live  like  the  rest  of-the  world ;  your  light  must  so  shine 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  239 

before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  thereby  be  led  to 
glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  For  my  part,  I  cannot  see 
with  what  face  clergymen  can  reprove  sinners,  or  exhort  men  to  lead 
a  good  life,  when  they  themselves  indulge  their  own  corrupt  inclina- 
tions, and  by  their  practice  contradict  their  doctrine.  If  the  holy  Jesus 
be  indeed  their  Master,  and  they  are  really  his  ambassadors,  surely  it 
becomes  them  to  live  like  his  disciples  ;  and  if  they  do  not,  what  a  sad 
account  must  they  give  of  their  stewardship. 

"  I  would  advise  you,  as  much  as  possible,  in  your  present  circum- 
stances, to  throw  your  business  into  a  certain  method,  by  which  means 
you  will  learn  to  improve  every  precious  moment,  and  find  an  unspeak- 
able facility  in  the  performance  of  your  respective  duties.  Begin  and 
end  the  day  with  him  who  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega ;  and  if  you  really 
experience  what  it  is  to  love  God,  you  will  redeem  all  the  time  you  can 
for  his  more  immediate  service.  I  will  tell  you  what  rule  I  used  to 
observe  when  I  was  in  my  father's  house,  and  had  as  little,  if  not  less, 
liberty  than  you  have  now.  I  used  to  allow  myself  as  much  time  for 
recreation  as  I  spent  in  private  devotion :  not  that  I  always  spent  so 
much  ;  but  I  gave  myself  leave  to  go  so  far,  but  no  farther.  So  in  all 
things  else ;  appoint  so  much  time  for  sleep,  eating,  company,  &c. 
But  above  all  things,  my  dear  Sammy,  I  command  you,  I  beg,  I  beseech 
you,  to  be  very  strict  in  observing  the  Lord's  day.  In  all  things 
endeavour  to  act  upon  principle,  and  do  not  live  like  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, who  pass  through  the  world  like  straws  upon  a  river,  which  are 
carried  which  way  the  stream  or  wind  drives  them.  Often  put  this 
question  to  yourself, — Why  do  I  this  or  that?  Why  do  I  pray,  read, 
study,  or  use  devotion,  &c?  By  which  means  you  will  come  to  such  a 
steadiness  and  consistency  in  your  words  and  actions  as  becomes  a 
reasonable  creature,  and  a  good  Christian." 

Such  a  mother  at  the  head  of  a  numerous  family  was  a  public 
blessing.  I  have  before  observed  that  Methodism  is  under  the  highest 
obligations  to  this  excellent  woman ;  and  the  extent  of  the  obligations 
to  the  mother  has  not  yet  been  duly  estimated  by  the  followers  of  the  son. 

About  this  time  an  accident  occurred,  which,  with  the  total  destruc- 
tion of  the  parsonage  house  at  Epworth,  and  all  the  family  property, 
had  nearly  proved  fatal  to  the  family  itself,  the  whole  of  which  had 
been  saved  almost  by  miracle.  The  fire  (of  which  we  shall  see  a 
particular  account  when  we  come  to  the  life  of  Mr.  John  Wesley)  took 
place  on  February  9,  1709.  Samuel,  who  was  then  at  Westminster 
school,  had  received  only  a  confused  account  of  this  catastrophe ;  and, 
among  other  inaccurate  intelligence,  had  heard  that  one  of  the  children 
was  either  lost  or  had  perished  in  the  flames.  On  this  occasion  he 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  his  mother,  which  marks  much  solicitude 
and  dutiful  affection. 

"  MADAM, — Had  not  my  grandmother  told  me,  the  last  time  I  was 
there,  that  you  was  near  lying-in,  at  which  time  I  thought  it  would  be 
in  vain  to  write  what  you  would  not  be  able  to  read,  I  had  sent  you 
letters  over  and  over  again  before  this.  I  beg  therefore  you  would 
not  impute  it  to  any  negligence,  which  sure  I  never  can  be  guilty  of 


240  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

while  I  enjoy  what  you  gave  me — life.  My  father  lets  me  be  in  pro- 
found ignorance  as  to  your  circumstances  at  Epworth ;  and  I  have 
not  heard  a  word  from  the  country  since  the  first  letter  you  sent  me 
after  the  fire,  so  that  I  am  quite  ashamed  to  go  to  any  of  my  relations 
for  fear  of  being  jeered  out  of  my  life.  They  ask  me  whether  my 
father  intends  to  leave  Epworth  ?  whether  he  is  rebuilding  his  house  ? 
whether  any  contributions  are  to  be  expected  1  what  was  the  lost  child, 
a  boy  or  a  girl?  what  was  its  name?  whether  my  father  has  lost  all 
his  books  and  papers  ?  if  nothing  was  saved  ?  To  all  which  I  am  forced 
to  answer — I  can't  tell — I  don't  know — I  have  not  heard.  I  have 
asked  my  father  some  of  these  questions,  but  am  still  an  ignoramus. 
If  you  think  my  Cowley  and  Hudibras  worth  accepting,  I  shall  be  very 
glad  to  send  them  to  my  mother,  who  gave  them  me.  I  hope  you  are 
all  well,  as  all  are  in  town. 

"  Your  most  affectionate  son, 

"  SAM.  WESLEY. 
"  June  9,  St.  Peter's  Coll.  Westmr." 

As  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  and  accurate  scholar,  he 
was  taken  occasionally  by  Dr.  Thomas  Sprat,  bishop  of  Rochester, 
and  one  of  the  prebends  of  Westminster,  to  read  to  him  in  the  evenings 
at  his  seat  at  Bromley,  in  Kent.  Bishop  Sprat  had  at  that  time  the 
reputation  of  being  one  of  the  first  scholars  in  England,  learned  in 
almost  all  arts  and  sciences,  and  a  poet  of  the  first  order.  To  almost 
any  young  man  of  learning  and  genius  the  friendship  and  conversation 
of  such  a  person  as  Bishop  Sprat  would  have  been  invaluable.  But 
Mr.  Wesley  was  so  intent  on  his  own  classical  studies,  and  withal 
short-sighted,  and  of  a  feeble  voice,  that  he  esteemed  this  service 
rather  as  a  bondage  than  a  privilege.  The  bishop's  studies  were 
nothing  similar  to  his  own ;  and  he  considered  the  time  he  was  obliged 
to  spend  at  Bromley  as  totally  lost.  From  this  place  he  wrote  a  Latin 
letter  to  his  father,  Aug.  1710,  full  of  complaints,  but  ill  justified  by 
their  cause.  Dr.  Whitchead  has  preserved  a  fragment,  which  I  shall 
transcribe.  Speaking  of  the  bishop,  he  says : — 

"  Ille  mihi  et  in  sacris,  et  in  profanis  rebus  semper  erit  infcslissimus  : 
studio,  enim  intermilti  cogit,  quibus  pro  virili  incubueram.  Ultimo  anno 
in  collegia  agenda,  ubi  non  mihi  seniori  opus  est  amicorum  hospitio,  a 
sludiis  et  a  sclwld  me  detraxil,  non  modo  nullam  ad  utililalem  sed  ne  ad 
minimum  quidem  vd  utililalls  vel  voluptatis  speciem  me  vocavil.  Ipse 
hodieforas  est,  aliter  vix  otiumforct  quo  has  scriberem.  JWe  ex  omnibim 
discipulis  elegit  ut  perlegerem  ei  noctu  libros :  me  raucum,  me  pv&ira. 
Gaudeo  vos  valetudine  bond  frui.  Tuam  et  maternam  benediclionem 
oro.  Episcopus  jussit  me  illius  in  literis  menlioncmfacerc.  Da  veniam 
subitis.  Aviam  ultimus  festis  vidi ;  his  venientibus  non  possum,  quia 
ab  inimico  amico  detincor." 

"  He  (the  bishop)  will  always  be  exceedingly  troublesome  to  me 
both  in  sacred  and  profane  learning ;  for  he  obliges  me  to  interrupt 
those  studies  to  which  I  had  applied  myself  with  all  my  might.  Spend- 
ing my  last  year  in  this  college,  where  being  a  senior,  I  do  not  need 
the  hospitality  of  friends,  he  has  taken  me  away  both  from  my  studies 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JCN.  241 

and  from  school*  not  only  without  any  benefit,  but  without  even  the  ap- 
pearance either  of  utility  or  pleasure.  To-day  he  is  from  home,  else  I 
should  not  have  had  time  to  write  this  letter.  He  chose  me  from  all 
the  scholars ;  me,  who  am  both  hoarse  and  short-sighted,  to  read  books 
to  him  by  night !  I  am  glad  that  you  enjoy  good  health.  I  beg  yours 
find  my  mother's  blessing.  I  saw  my  grandmother*  in  the  last  holi- 
days :  in  those  that  are  approaching  I  cannot,  because  I  am  detained 
by  an  unfriendly  friend." 

Mr.  Wesley  was  but  young  at  this  time  ;  and  might  be  said  to  have 
scarcely  finished  his  common  school  exercises.  He  had  hitherto  con- 
versed merely  with  school  books ;  and  had  not  read  those  authors  by 
whose  assistance  he  might  have  formed  and  ornamented  his  style : 
hence  his  Latinity  in  the  preceding  letter,  though  grammatically  correct, 
is  that  of  a  school  boy  who  translates  Latin  into  English,  being  govern- 
ed simply  by  the  idiom  and  phraseology  of  his  mother  tongue.  He 
was  now  about  twenty  years  of  age;  and  was  only  beginning  to  study 
the  Greek  and  Latin  authors  critically,  and  to  relish  their  beauties. 
His  Latin  compositions  both  in  prose  and  verse,  which  were  the  fruits 
of  his  maturer  age,  show  how  solidly  he  had  built  on  the  good  founda- 
tion which  was  laid  at  Westminster  school. 

That  he  retained  both  at  Westminster  and  Oxford  the  good  impres- 
sions he  had  received  from  his  religious  education  there  is  abundant 
proof.  In  December,  1710,  he  wrote  to  his  mother.  The  following 
extract  from  his  letter  gives,  as  Dr.  Whitehead  justly  observes,  a  pleas- 
ing view  of  his  simplicity,  and  of  his  seridus  attention  to  the  state  of  his 
own  heart,  and  the  first  motions  of  evil : — 

*'  I  received  the  sacrament  (says  he)  the  first  Sunday  of  this  month. 
1  am  unstable  as  water :  I  frequently  make  good  resolutions,  and  keep 
them  for  a  time ;  and  then  grow  weary  of  restraint.  I  have  one  grand 
failing,  which  is,  that  having  done  my  duty,  I  undervalue  others  ;  and 
think  what  wretches  the  rest  of  the  college  are,  compared  with  me ! 
Sometimes  in  my  relapses  I  cry  out,  Can  the  ^Ethiopian  change  hit 
skin,  and  the  leopard  his  spots  ?  then  may  you  also  do  good  who  are 
accustomed  to  do  evil.  But  I  answer  again, —  With  mtn  this  is  impot' 
sible  :  but  with  God  all  things  are  possible.  Amen" 

Mrs.  Wesley  answered  this  letter  in  the  game  month.  I  shall  lay 
the  whole  of  her  excellent  letter  before  the  reader. 

"  Thursday,  Dec.  28,  [1710.] 

"  DEAR  SAMMY, — I  am  much  better  pleased  with  the  beginning  of 
your  letter  than  with  what  you  used  to  send  me  :  for  I  do  not  love  dis- 
tance or  ceremony ;  there  is  more  of  love  and  tenderness  in  the  name  of 
mother  than  in  all  the  complimenlal  titles  in  the  world. 

"  I  intend  to  write  to  your  father  about  your  coming  down  :  but  yet 
it  would  not  be  amiss  for  you  to  speak  of  it  too.  Perhaps  our  united 
desires  may  sooner  prevail  upon  him  to  grant  our  request ;  though  I  do 
not  think  he  will  be  averse  from  it  at  all. 

*  The  grandmother  whom  he  mentions  here  was  the  widow  of  John  Wesley,  A. 
M.,  of  Whitchurch,  and  niece  of  Dr.  Thos.  Fuller.  See  some  account  of  this  emi- 
nent historian  and  divine,  in  the  Life  of  the  Rev.  J.  Wes>lcy,  vicar  of  Whitchurch* 


248  SAMUEL   WESLET,  JUN. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  that  you  have  already  received,  and  that  you 
design  again  to  receive,  the  holy  sacrament ;  for  there  is  nothing  more 
proper  or  effectual  for  the  strengthening  and  refreshing  the  mind  than 
the  frequent  partaking  of  that  blessed  ordinance. 

"  You  complain  that  you  are  unstable  and  inconstant  in  the  ways  of 
virtue.  Alas!  what  Christian  is  not  so  too?  I  am  sure  that  I,  above 
all  others,  am  most  unfit  to  advise  in  such  a  case ;  yet  since  I  cannot 
but  speak  something,  since  I  love  you  as  my  own  soul,  I  will  endeavour 
to  do  as  well  as  I  can  ;  and  perhaps  while  I  write  I  may  learn,  and  by 
instructing  you  I  may  teach  myself. 

"  First.  Endeavour  to  get  as  deep  an  impression  on  your  mind  as 
is  possible,  of  the  awful  and  constant  presence  of  the  great  and  holy 
God.  Consider  frequently,  that  wherever  you  are,  or  whatever  you 
are  about,  he  always  adverts  to  your  thoughts  and  actions,  in  order  to  a 
future  retribution.  He  is  about  our  beds  and  about  our  paths,  and  spies 
out  all  our  ways  ;  and  whenever  you  are  tempted  to  the  commission  of 
any  sin,  or  the  omission  of  any  duty,  make  a  pause  and  say  to  yourself, 
What  am  I  about  to  do?  God  sees  me.  Is  this  my  avowed  faith- 
fulness to  my  Creator,  Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier?  Have  I  so  soon 
forgot  that  the  vows  of  God  are  upon  me?  Was  it  easier  for  the  eter- 
nal Son  of  God  to  die  for  me,  than  it  is  for  me  to  remember  him  ?  For 
what  end  came  he  into  the  world,  but  to  satisfy  the  justice  of  God  for 
us,  and  to  reconcile  us  to  God,  and  to  plant  good  life  among  men  in 
order  to  their  eternal  salvation.  What,  cannot  I  watch  one  hour  with 
that  Jesus  that  veiled  his  native  glory  with  our  nature,  and  condescend- 
ed so  low  as  to  make  himself  of  no  reputation,  by  putting  on  the  form 
of  a  servant,  that  he  might  be  capable  of  conferring  the  greatest  benefit 
upon  us  that  man  could  receive,  by  his  suffering  such  a  shameful  and 
cursed  death  upon  the  cross  for  our  redemption?  O,  Sammy,  think  but 
often  and  seriously  on  Jesus  Christ ;  and  you  will  experience  what  it  is 
to  have  the  heart  purified  by  faith. 

"  Secondly.  Consider  often  of  that  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory  that  is  prepared  for  those  who  persevere  in  the  paths  of  virtue. 
•  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of 
man  to  conceive,  what  God  hath  prepared  for  such  as  love  and  serve 
him  faithfully.'  And  when  you  have  so  long  thought  on  this  that  you 
find  your  mind  affected  with  it,  then  turn  your  view  upon  this  present 
world,  and  see  what  vain  inconsiderable  trifles  you  practically  prefer 
before  a  solid,  rational,  permanent  state  of  everlasting  tranquillity. 
Could  we  but  once  attain  to  a  strong  and  lively  sense  of  spiritual  things ; 
could  we  often  abstract  our  minds  from  corporeal  objects,  and  fix  them 
on  heaven ;  we  should  not  waver  and  be  so  inconstant  as  we  are  in 
matters  of  the  greatest  moment :  but  the  soul  would  be  naturally  as- 
piring toward  a  union  with  God,  as  the  flame  ascends  ;  for  he  is  alone 
the  proper  centre  of  the  mind,  and  it  is  only  the  weight  of  our  corrupt 
nature  that  retards  its  motions  toward  him. 

"  Thirdly.  Meditate  often  and  seriously  on  the  shortness,  uncer- 
tainty, and  vanity,  of  this  present  state  of  things.  Alas !  had  we  all 
that  the  most  ambitious  craving  souls  can  desire ;  were  we  actually 
possessed  of  all  the  honour,  wealth,  strength,  beauty,  &c,  that  our  car- 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  243 

nal  minds  can  fancy  or  delight  in  ; — what  would  it  signify  if  God  should 
say  unto  us,  Thou  fool,  this  night  shall  thy  soul  be  required  of  thee. 
Look  back  upon  your  past  hours,  and  tell  me  which  of  them  afford  you 
the  most  pleasing  prospect ;  whether  those  spent  in  play  or  vanity,  or 
those  few  that  were  employed  in  the  service  of  God?  Have  you  not  in 
your  short  experience  often  found  Solomon's  observations  on  the  world 
very  true?  Has  not  a  great  part  of  your  little  life  proved,  on  reflection, 
nothing  but  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit?  How  many  persons  on  a 
death  bed  have  bitterly  bewailed  the  sins  of  their  past  life ;  and  made 
large  promises  of  amendment  if  it  would  have  pleased  God  to  have 
spared  them  :  but  none  that  ever  lived,  or  died,  repented  of  a  course  of 
piety  and  virtue.  Then  why  should  you  not  improve  the  experience  of 
those  who  have  gone  before  you,  and  your  own  also,  to  your  advantage  ? 
And  since  it  is  past  dispute  that  the  ways  of  virtue  are  infinitely  better 
than  the  practice  of  vice,  and  that  life  is  only  short  at  best  and  uncer- 
tain, and  that  this  little  portion  of  time  is  all  we  have  for  working  out 
our  salvation ;  for  as  the  tree  falls,  so  it  must  lie  ;  as  death  leaves  us, 
judgment  will  certainly  find  us ;  have  a  good  courage,  eternity  is  at 
hand.  Lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset 
you  ;  and  run  with  patience  and  vigour  the  race  which  is  set  before  you  : 
and  if  at  any  time  present  objects  should  make  so  great  an  impression 
on  your  senses  as  to  endanger  the  alienating  your  mind  from  the  spi- 
ritual life,  then  look  up  to  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith, 
and  humbly  beseech  him,  that  since  he  for  our  sake  suffered  himself  to 
be  under  the  state  of  temptation,  he  would  please  to  succour  you  when 
you  are  tempted ;  and  in  his  strength  you  will  find  yourself  enabled  to 
encounter  your  spiritual  enemies ;  nay,  you  will  be  more  than  a  con- 
queror through  HIM  who  hath  loved  us. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  lie  under  a  necessity  of  conversing  with  those 
that  are  none  of  the  best :  but  we  must  take  the  world  as  we  find  it,  since 
it  is  a  happiness  permitted  to  very  few  to  ehoose  their  company.  Yet, 
lest  the  comparing  yourself  with  others  that  are  worse  may  be  an  occa- 
sion of  your  falling  into  too  much  vanity,  you  would  do  well  sometimes 
to  entertain  such  thoughts  as  these  : — 

"  Though  I  know  my  own  birth  and  education,  and  am  conscious  of 
having  had  great  advantages, — yet  how  little  do  I  know  of  the  circum- 
stances of  others?  Perhaps  their  parents  were  vicious,  or  did  not 
take  early  care  of  their  minds,  to  instil  the  principles  of  virtue  into  their 
tender  years,  but  suffered  them  to  follow  their  own  inclinations  till  it 
was  too  late  to  reclaim  them.  Am  I  sure  that  they  have  had  as  many 
offers  of  grace,  as  many  and  strong  impulses  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  I 
have  had  ?  Do  they  sin  against  as  clear  conviction  as  I  do  ?  Or  are 
the  vows  of  God  upon  them  as  upon  me  ?  Were  they  so  solemnly 
devoted  to  him  at  their  birth  as  I  was  ?  You  have  had  the  example  of 
a  father  who  served  God  from  his  youth  ;  and  though  I  cannot  com- 
mend my  own  to  you,  for  it  is  too  bad  to  be  imitated,  yet  surely  earnest 
prayers  for  many  years,  and  some  little  good  advice,  have  not  been 
wanting. 

"  But  if,  after  all,  self-love  should  incline  you  to  partiality  in  your 
own  case,  seriously  consider  your  own  many  failings  which  the  world 


244  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

cannot  take  notice  of,  because  they  were  so  private  ;  and  if  still,  upon 
comparison,  you  seem  better  than  others  are,  then  ask  yourself,  Who  is 
it  that  makes  you  to  differ  ?  and  let  God  have  all  the  praise,  since  of 
ourselves  we  can  do  nothing.  It  is  he  that  worketh  in  us  both  to  will 
and  to  do  of  his  own  good  pleasure  ;  and  if  at  any  time  you  have  vainly 
ascribed  the  glory  of  any  good  performance  to  yourself,  humble  your- 
self for  it  before  God,  and  give  him  the  glory  of  his  grace  for  the 
future.  , 

"  I  am  straitened  for  paper  and  time,  therefore  must  conclude — 
God  Almighty  bless  you,  and  preserve  you  from  all  evil.  Adieu." 

The  next  year,  1711,  he  was  elected  to  Christ's  Church,  Oxford  ; 
where  his  diligence  was  exemplary,  and  his  profiting  great. 

The  anonymous  author  of  his  Life,  prefixed  to  the  duodecimo  edition 
of  his  poems,  1743,  says,  "  In  both  these  places  (Westminster  and 
Oxford)  by  the  sprightliness  of  his  compositions,  and  his  remarkable 
industry,  he  gained  a  reputation  beyond  most  of  his  contemporaries, 
being  thoroughly  and  critically  skilled  in  the  learned  languages,  and 
master  of  the  classics  to  a  degree  of  perfection  perhaps  not  very  com- 
mon in  this  last  mentioned  society,  so  justly  famous  for  polite  learn- 
ing." Writh  these  qualifications  he  was  sent  for,  from  the  university, 
to  officiate  as  one  of  the  ushers  in  Westminster  school ;  and  soon 
after,  under  the  direction  of  Bishop  Atterbury,  then  dean  of  Westmin- 
ster, entered  into  holy  orders.  His  attachment  to  this  unfortunate  pre- 
late (who  by  his  continual  opposition  to  Sir  Robert  Walpole's  measures 
became  obnoxious  to  the  government ;  and  was  at  last  on  frivolous 
pretences,  whether  true  or  false,  banished  for  life)  prevented  his  pre- 
ferment in  the  Church.  And  it  proceeded  farther  ;  for  through  this 
same  attachment  he  was  prevented  from  obtaining  the  vacant  chair  of 
under-master  in  Westminster  school ;  for  which  he  was  eminently  quali- 
fied by  learning,  judgment,  habit,  and  experience,  after  he  had  offi- 
ciated as  head  usher  for  about  twenty  years.  It  was  denied  him  on  the 
frivolous  pretence,  that  he  was  a  married  man !  This  was  to  him  a 
severe  disappointment,  as  he  fully  expected  the  place.  But  though  he 
.quitted  the  school  in  disgust,  he  made  a  very  pious  use  of  this  dispensa- 
tion of  Divine  Providence,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  verses, 
written  on  this  occasion,  dated  January  22,  1732,  and  which  I  believe 
have  never  been  published. 

Oppress'd,  O  Lord,  in  thee  I  trust, 

To  thee  insulted  flee : 
Howe'er  in  mortals  'tis  unjust, 

'Tis  righteousness  in  thee. 

To  God  why  should  the  thankless  call 

His  blessings  to  repeat  ? 
Why  should  the  unthankful  for  the  small, 

Be  trusted  with  the  great. 

To  thee  my  soul  for  mercy  flies, 

And  pardon  seeks  on  high  : 
For  earth,  its  mercy  I  despise, 

And  justice  I  defy. 

4 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUN.  24  & 

Grant  me,  O  Lord,  with  holier  care, 

And  worthier  thee,  to  live ! 
Forgive  my  foes,  and  let  them  dare 

The  injured  to  forgive. 

Thy  grace,  in  death's  decisive  hour, 

Though  undeserved,  bestow  ! 
O,  then,  on  me  thy  mercy  shower, 

And  welcome  judgment  now. 

These  verses  fully  express  the  disappointment,  its  injustice,  and  the 
feelings  it  produced.  As  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  ministry 
was  at  the  bottom  of  this  transaction,  we  need  not  wonder  at  the  severe 
epigrams  with  which  he  assailed  the  Walpolian  administration. 

We  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  these  afterward. 

While  at  Oxford,  he  appears  to  have  entered  a  good  deal  into  Bibli- 
cal criticism  ;  and  particularly  into  the  controversy  excited  by  Mr. 
IVhiston,  who,  having  laboured  himself  into  the  Socinian  scheme,  en- 
deavoured by  writing  and  publishing  to  support  it  to  the  uttermost  of 
his  power. 

Mr.  S.  Wesley  had  written  a  discourse  on  the  larger  epistle  of  Ig- 
natius. This  epistle  Mr.  Whiston  had  attacked  as  interpolated  by  the 
Jlthanasians;  and  in  his  Primitive  Christianity  Revived,  (4vols.  8vo.,) 
had  endeavoured  not  only  to  weaken  the  evidence  of  our  Lord's  divi- 
nity, but  to  inundate  the  Church  with  spurious  writings  which  he  wished 
to  prove  of  equal  authority  with  those  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
necessary  to  complete  the  canon  of  the  Christian  revelation. 

How  these  things  affected  the  mind  of  Mr.  Wesley  may  be  seen  in  a 
letter  sent  to  Robert  Nelson,  Esq.,  author  of  the  Fasts  and  Festivals  of 
the  English  Church,  dated  Oxford,  June  3d,  1713,  when  he  had  been 
about  two  years  at  the  university.  He  says  : — 

"  I  hoped  long  ere  this  to  have  perfected,  as  well  as  I  could,  my 
Dissertation  on  Ignatius,  and  gotten  it  ready  for  the  press,  when  I 
came  to  town  this  year.  But  I  found  myself  disappointed  ;  at  first  for 
some  months  by  my  affairs  in  the  East  India  House ;  and  since  by  my 
charily  hymns,  and  other  matters.  I  think  I  told  you  some  time  since, 
that  I  had  laid  materials  together  for  a  second  discourse  on  that  subject, 
directly  against  Mr.  Whiston's  objections  to  the  shorter  and  genuine 
copy  of  Ignatius ;  whereas  my  former  was  chiefly  against  the  larger  ; 
because  I  then  thought,  if  that  were  proved  interpolated,  it  would  be 
readily  granted  that  the  other  was  the  genuine.  But  having  found, 
when  Mr.  Whiston's  four  volumes  came  out,  that  he  had  in  the  first  of 
them  laid  together  many  objections  against  the  shorter  epistles,  I  set 
myself  to  consider  them ;  and  having  now  got  Archbishop  Usher, 
Bishop  Pearson,  and  Dr.  Smith,  on  that  subject,  and  as  carefully  as  I 
could  perused  them,  I  found  that  many  of  Mr.  Whiston's  objections 
were  taken  from  Daille,  a  few  from  the  writings  of  the  Socinian*  and 
modern  Jlrians,  though  most  of  them  from  his  own  observations.  These 
latter  being  new,  and  having  not  appeared  when  Bishop  Pearson  and 
the  others  wrote,  could  not  be  taken  notice  of  then  ;  and  being  now 
published  in  the  English  language,  may  seduce  some  well  meaning 


246  SAMUEL    WESLEY,  JUN'. 

persons,  and  persuade  them  that  the  true  Ignatius  was  of  the  same 
opinion  with  the  Brians,  (whereas  I  am  sure  he  was  as  far  from  it  as 
light  is  from  darkness,)  and  that  the  rather,  because  there  has  been  no 
answer,  that  I  know  of,  published  to  them,  though  they  were  printed  in 
the  year  171 1.  I  know  many  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  best  still  to  slight 
him,  and  take  no  notice  of  him.  This,  I  confess,  is  the  most  easy  way  ; 
but  cannot  tell  whether  it  will  be  safe  in  respect  to  the  common  people, 
or  will  tend  so  much  to  the  honour  of  our  Church  and  nation.  Of  this 
however  I  am  pretty  confident,  that  I  can  prove  all  his  objections, 
•whether  general  or  particular,  against  the  shorter  copy,  to  be  notorious- 
ly false.  Such  as  that,  pp.  86,  87,  that  the  smaller  so  frequently  calls 
Christ  God ;  which  he  says  was  done  to  serve  the  turn  of  the  Jltha- 
iiasians,  and  cannot  in  reason  be  supposed  to  be  an  omission  in  the 
larger,  but  must  be  an  interpolation  in  the  smaller  ;  whereas  I  find  that 
the  smaller  calls  him  God  but  fifteen  times,  the  larger,  eighteen ; 
and  if  we  take  in  those  to  Jintioch,  and  Tarsus,  twenty-two  times,  for 
an  obvious  reason. 

"  Again,  he  says,  p.  64,  '  That  serious  exhortations  to  practical, 
especially  domestic  duties,  are  in  the  larger  only,  being  to  a  surprising 
degree  omitted  in  the  small.'  But  I  have  collected  above  one  hundred 
instances  wherein  these  duties  are  most  pressingly  recommended 
in  the  smaller.  But  what  he  labours  for  most,  is  to  prove  that  the  first 
quotations  in  Eusebius  and  others  of  the  ancients  are  agreeable  to  the 
larger,  not  the  smaller.  Whereas  on  my  tracing  and  comparing  them 
all,  as  far  as  I  have  had  opportunity,  I  have  found  this  assertion  to  be 
a  palpable  mistake,  unless  in  one  quotation  from  the  Chronicon  Mtx- 
andrinum,  or  Paschale.  I  would  glady  see  JVLontfaucon,  Causa  JVfar- 
celli,  St.  Basil  contra  Jdarcellum,  Observations  on  Pearson's  Vindiciw, 
and  some  good  account  of  the  Jewish  Sephiroth ;  because  I  think  the 
Gnostics,  Basilidians,  and  Valentinians,  borrowed  many  of  their  JEons 
from  them,  since  they  have  the  same  names ;  and  this  might  perhaps 
give  farther  light  to  the  famous  2irH  of  Ignatius  ;  for  the  clearing 
whereof  Bishop  Pearson,  Dr.  Bull,  and  Grotius,  have  so  well  la- 
boured." 

Mr.  Wesley  mentions  two  dissertations  here  which  he  had  drawn 
up  and  at  least  made  ready  for  publication  on  the  authenticity  of  the 
smaller,  and  interpolations  of  the  larger  epistles  attributed  to  Ignatius. 
Whether  these  were  ever  put  to  press,  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn. 

He  speaks  also  of  charity  hymns,  which  I  have  not  seen  ;  and  of  his 
business  at  the  East  India  House,  which  I  suppose  was  in  the  affairs 
of  his  uncle,  Samuel  Jlnnesley,  who  was  then  in  the  Company's  service 
at  Suratt,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  short  memoir  of  his  life. 

If  Mr.  Wesley  had  any  patron,  it  was  Dr.  Francis  Jltterbury,  dean 
of  Westminster,  and  bishop  of  Rochester;  who  succeeded  Doctor  Tho- 
mas Sprat  in  that  see,  in  the  year  1713.  The  disgrace  of  this  prelate' 
blasted  all  Mr.  Wesley's  prospects  of  preferment  in  the  Church.  His 
history  is  so  nearly  connected  with  that  of  Mr.  Wesley  as  to  render  it 
necessary  to  say  a  few  words  of  a  man  whose  quarrel  with  the  ministry 
Jed  to  his  own  banishment,  and  agitated  the  whole  nation. 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUN.  247 

Bishop  Atterbury  was  a  very  high  Churchman ;  he  was  prolocutor 
in  the  upper  house  of  convocation,  and  determined  in  the  support  of  the 
highest  privileges  of  his  order.  During  the  rebellion  in  Scotland, 
when  the  pretender's  declaration  was  dispersed  in  England,  the  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  the  bishops  in  and  near  London,  published 
"  A  declaration  of  their  abhorrence  of  the  rebellion ;  and  an  exhort- 
ation to  be  zealous  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  to  King  George." 
This  Bishop  Atterbury  refused  to  sign,  because  of  certain  reflections 
cast  on  the  high  Church  party  in  it.  This,  together  with  his  general 
opposition  to  the  measures  of  ministry,  served  to  lay  him  under  suspi- 
cion. In  August,  1722,  he  was  apprehended  under  an  accusation  of 
being  concerned  in  a  plot  in  favour  of  the  pretender,  and  committed  to 
the  tower.  A  paper  which  one  of  the  messengers  who  arrested  him 
pretended  to  have  found  concealed  in  the  bishop's  premises,  and  which, 
the  bishop  protested  against  as  being  forged,  was  the  principal 
evidence  against  him.  On  the  23d  March,  1723,  a  bill  was 
brought  into  the  house  of  commons,  "  for  inflicting  certain  pains  and 
penalties  on  Francis,  lord  bishop  of  Rochester."  As  he  reserved  his 
opposition  to  the  bill  till  it  should  come  before  the  upper  house,  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  it  easily  passed  the  commons  ;  and  on  the  9th  of 
April  it  was  sent  up  to  the  house  of  lords,  and  on  May  the  llth  he  was 
permitted  to  plead  for  himself.  This  he  did  in  a  mastertly  speech,  in 
which  he  demonstrated  the  utter  improbability  and  falsity  of  the  accu- 
sation. It  was  in  vain.  The  king  did  not  like  him,  and  the  ministry 
were  determined  on  his  downfall :  he  was  therefore  condemned ;  for 
the  bill  was  passed  on  the  16th  by  a  majority  of  eighty-three  to  forty- 
three.  On  the  27th  the  king  confirmed  it ;  and  on  the  18th  of  June 
he  was  put  on  board  of  the  Aldborough  man  of  war,  and  conveyed  to 
Calais  under  the  sentence  of  perpetual  banishment.  He  went  after- 
ward to  Paris,  where  he  was  obliged  to  live  very  privately,  no  English- 
man being  permitted  to  associate  or  converse  with  him  without  a  special 
license  from  the  secretary  of  state,  the  fees  of  whose  office  were  op- 
pressively high  !  He  died  at  Paris,  February  15,  1732  ;  and  his  body 
was  brought  over  to  England  on  May  12th  following,  and  interred  in 
Westminster  abbey. 

Thus  Mr.  Wesley  lost  his  chief  friend  and  patron  ;  whose  cause, 
because  he  considered  it  the  cause  of  truth,  he  continued  invariably  to 
support  and  vindicate,  though  he  was  satisfied  from  the  complexion  of 
the  times,  that  this  would  be  an  insuperable  bar  to  his  promotion. 

The  following  extracts  of  letters  from  the  bishop  during  his  exile  will 
show  in  what  light  he  was  viewed  by  his  patron,  now  no  longer  able  to 
do  him  service.  They  were  occasioned  by  that  fine  poem  which  Mr. 
Wesley  wrote  and  printed  in  his  collection,  on  the  death  of  JVJrs.  Mo- 
rice,  his  lordship's  daughter : — 

"  April  24,  1730. 

"  I  have  received  a  poem  from  Mr.  Morice,  which  I  must  be  insen- 
sible not  to  thank  you  for — your  Elegy  upon  the  Death  of  Mrs.  Morice. 
It  is  what  I  cannot  help,  an  impulse  upon  me  to  thank  you  under  my 
own  hand,  the  satisfaction  I  feel,  the  approbation  I  give,  the  envy  I  bear 


248  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

you,  for  this  good  deed  and  good  work. — As  a  poet  and  as  a  man  I 
thank  you,  I  esteem  you." 

"  Paris,  May  27,  1730. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  Wesley  for  what  he  has  written  on  my  dear  child  ; 
and  take  it  the  more  kindly,  because  he  could  not  hope  for  my  being 
ever  in  a  condition  to  reward  him.  Though  if  ever  I  am,  I  will ;  for 
he  has  shown  an  invariable  regard  for  me  all  along,  in  all  circumstances ; 
and  much  more  than  some  of  his  acquaintances,  who  had  ten  times 
greater  obligations." 

"  Paris,  June  30,  1730. 

"  The  verses  you  sent  me  touched  me  very  nearly ;  and  the  Latin 
in  the  front  of  them  as  much  as  the  English  that  followed.* 

"  There  are  a  great  many  good  lines  in  them ;  and  they  are  writ 
with  as  mnch  affection  as  poetry.  They  came  from  the  heart  of  the 
author,  and  he  has  a  share  of  mine  in  return  ;  and  if  ever  I  come  back 
to  my  country  with  honour,  he  shall  find  it." 

This  was  no  mean  praise  from  so  great  a  man,  and  so  good  a  judge. 
The  reflection  made  by  the  anonymous  author  of  a  Sketch  of  his  Life, 
prefixed  to  the  duodecimo  edition  of  his  poems,  is  worthy  to  be  pre- 
served here. 

"  It  may  be  thought,  (says  he,)  and  perhaps  truly  enough,  that  his 
attachment  to  this  great  unfortunate  prelate  hindered  him  from  rising 
higher  in  the  world  :  but  as  it  was  what  he  always  gloried  in  ;  so,  it  is 
obvious  to  remark,  that  it  would  be  for  the  credit  of  human  nature,  if 
such  examples  were  more  frequent ;  and  that  great  men  did  oftener 
find  upon  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  such  firmness  and  fidelity  from 
those  they  had  obliged." 

Mrs.  Morice,  on  whom  this  elegy  was  written,  was  so  affected  at  her 
father's  troubles  and  disgrace,  that  she  sunk  into  a  lingering  disorder, 
from  which  she  never  recovered.  As  she  found  her  end  approaching, 
she  earnestly  desired  to  be  taken  to  France,  to  have  one  interview  with 
her  father  before  she  died  :  she  had  her  desire,  and  survived  the  inter- 
view only  a  few  hours !  The  sorrowful  tale  is  thus  pathetically  related 
by  Bishop  Atterbury,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pope : — 

"  The  earnest  desire  (says  he)  of  meeting  one  I  dearly  loved  called 
me  to  Montpelier ;  where,  after  continuing  two  months  under  the  cruel 
torture  of  a  sad  and  fruitless  expectation,  I  was  forced  at  last  to  take  a 
long  journey  to  Tholouse ;  and  even  there  I  had  missed  the  person  I 
sought,  had  she  not  with  great  spirit  and  courage  ventured  all  night  up  the 
Garonne  to  see  me,  which  she  had  above  all  things  desired  to  do  before 
she  died.  By  that  means  she  was  brought  where  I  was,  between  seven 
and  eight  in  the  morning,  and  lived  twenty  hours  afterward ;  which 
time  was  not  lost  on  either  side,  but  passed  in  such  a  manner  as  gave 
great  satisfaction  to  both ;  and  such  as  on  her  part  every  way  became 
her  circumstances  and  character ;  for  she  had  her  senses  to  the  very 
last  gasp,  and  exerted  them  to  give  me  in  those  few  hours  greater  marks 


•  1 1  m !  mine  miscro  miki  demum 


Exiliwn  inftlix  !  nunc  alte  vidnus  adadum. 


SAMUEL   WKSI.KY,   JVN.  249 

of  duty  and  love  than  she  had  done  in  all  her  lifetime,  though  she  had 
never  been  wanting  in  either.  The  last  words  she  said  to  me  were  the 
kindest  of  all :  a  reflection  on  '  the  goodness  of  God,  which  had  allowed 
us  in  this  manner  to  meet  once  more  before  we  parted  for  ever.1  Not 
many  minutes  after  that,  she  laid  her  head  on  her  pillow  in  a  sleeping 
posture — 

Placidaque  ibi  demum  marie  quinit. 

Judge  you,  sir,  what  I  felt,  and  still  feel,  on  this  occasion !  and  spare 
me  the  trouble  of  describing  it.  At  my  age,  under  my  infirmities,  among 
utter  strangers,  how  shall  I  find  out  proper  reliefs  and  supports  ?  I  can 
have  none  but  those  which  reason  and  religion  furnish  me  ;  and  those 
I  lay  hold  on  as  fast  as  I  can.  I  hope  that  He  who  laid  the  burthen 
upon  me  (for  wise  and  good  purposes  no  doubt)  will  enable  me  to 
bear  it" 

Mrs.  JVfort'ce  died  in  1729  ;  and  it  was  supposed  that  her  dissolution 
hastened  that  of  her  persecuted  father.  All  the  preceding  circumstances 
are  admirably  wrought  up  in  the  elegy  mentioned  above. 

When  all  things  are  considered,  we  need  not  wonder  at  the  severity 
of  the  following  epigrams,  with  which  Mr.  Wesley  assailed  Sir  Robert 
Walpole  and  his  friends  : — 

When  patriots  sent  a  bishop  'cross  the  seas, 

They  met  to  fix  the  pains  and  penalties : 

While  true  blue  blood-hgunds  on  his  death  ware  bent. 

Thy  mercy,  Walpole,  voted  banishment ! 

Or  forced  thy  sov'reign's  orders  to  perform, 

Or,  proud  to  govern,  as  to  raise  the  storm. 

Thy  goodness  shown  in  such  a  dangerous  day, 

He  only  who  receiv'd  it  can  repay  : 

Thou  never  justly  recompens'd  canst  be, 

Till  banish'd  .Francis  do  the  same  for  thee. 


Tho'  some  would  give  Sir  Bob  no  quarter, 

But  long  to  hang  him  in  his  garter ; 

Yet  sure  he  will  deserve  to  have 

Such  mercy  as  in  power  he  gave: 

Send  him  abroad  to  take  his  ease, 

By  act  of  pains  and  penalties : 

But  if  he  e'er  comes  here  again, 

Law,  take  thy  course,  and  hang  him  then. 


four  shillings  in  the  pound  we  see 
And  well  may  rest  contented, 

Since  war,  Bob  swore 't  should  never  be. 
Is  happily  prevented. 

But  he,  now  absolute  become, 

May  plunder  every  penny ; 
Then  blame  him  not  for  taking  tome, 

But  thank  for  leaving  any. 


Let  H hie  treasure  now  confeu, 

Display'^  to  every  eye: 
32 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JtJN. 

' T was  base  in  H lo  sell  a  peace, 

But  great  in  Bob  to  buy. 

Which  most  promotes  Great  Britain's  gam 

To  all  mankind  is  clear ; 
One  sends  our  treasure  'cross  the  main, 

One  brings  the  foreign  here. 

But  if  'tis  fit  to  give  rewards 

Or  punishments  to  either, 
Why  make  them  both  together  lords, 

Or  hang  them  both  together. 

At  scribblers  poor,  who  rail  to  eat, 

Ye  wags  give  over  jeering ; 
Since  gall'd  By  Harry,  Bob  the  Great 

Has  stoop'd  to  pamphleteering. 

Would  not  one  champion  on  his  side 

For  love  or  money  venture  ? 
Must  knighthood's  mirror,  spite  of  pride, 

So  mean  a  combat  enter  ? 

• ' : 

To  take  the  field  his  weakness  shows, 
Tho'  well  he  could  maintain  it ; 

Since  H no  honour  has  to  lose, 

Pray  how  can  Robin  gain  it? 

Worthy  each  other  are  the  two  : 
Halloo !  Boys,  fairly  start  ye ; 

Let  those  be  hated  worse  than  yoa. 
Whoever  strive  to  part  ye. 


A  steward  once,  the  Scripture  says, 
When  ordered  his  accounts  to  pass, 
To  gain  his  master's  debtors  o'er, 
Cried,  for  a  hundred  write  fourscore. 

Near  as  he  could  Sir  Robert,  bent 
To  follow  Gospel  precedent, 
When  told  a  hundred  late  would  do, 
Cried,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  take  two. 
J[n  merit  which  should  we  prefer, 
*The  steward  or  the  treasurer  1 
Neither  for  justice  car'd  a  fig  : 
Too  proud  to  beg,  too  old  to  dig ; 
Both  bountiful  themselves  have  shown, 
In  things  that  never  were  their  own : 
But  here  a  difference  we  must  grant, 
One  robbed  the  rich  to  keep  off  want  j 
T*  other,  vast  treasures  to  secure, 
Stole  from  the  public  and  the  poor. 

Among  the  family  papers  a  Latin  ode  has  been  found,  with  its  trans- 
lation, both  by  Mr.  Wesley,  and  on  the  same  subject.  As  I  believe 
these  have  never  been  published,  I  shall  insert  them  also : — 

EPITAPHIUM  VIVI. 

Juxta  quiescit,  credite  Posteri! 
Cvntcmptor  auri,  propositi  tenax 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUST.  251 

Jtiifisque,  vir  menu,  ctqui 

Dedecoris,  Decorisque  ritor. 

Quern  nee  Popelli  nee  Procerum  favor 
Perstrinrit  unquam,  quern  neqne  percuiit 

Famctre  mendacis  susurrus,- 

Velfremitvs  minitantii  cndce. 

Curd  solutus,  Rege  beatior ; 
Mohu  per  omnes  invariabilit ; 
Amicus  Harlai  cadentii, 

W 1  dominantis  hostis. 

ANN  AM  parentem  qui  patriot  raius, 
Semperque  eandem,  semper  amabilem ; 
Solvebit  extinctcz  perennem, 

Porra  lictt  pia  dona,  laudem. 

Won  exulantis  Prasulis  immemar, 
Qui  lege  lat&fugerat  Jingliam, 
UUraque  for  tuna  probati 

Patris  amans,  et  amatus  Hit. 

Quos  sprevit  omnet,  tutus  ab  hostibus, 
Hie  dormit  infra,  nee  eineri  nocet, 
Sett  Lector  irridere  malit 

Seu  tetricam  caperare  firm  tern. 

S.  WESLKT. 


Englished  by  the  Same. 

A  man  who  slighted  gold,  lies  here ; 
True  to  his  laughter  and  his  aim ; 
Yet  even  in  his  mirth  severe, 

He  laughed  at  glory  and  at  shame. 

Who  counted  vulgar  favour  light, 

And  smiles  of  lords ,  who  held  as  sport 

The  whispers  of  defaming  spite, 
The  thunder  of  a  threatening  court. 

Stranger  to  care,  than  kings  more  blest, 

Unmov'd  however  parties  go; 
A  friend  to  Harley  in  distress, 

To  Walpole,  when  in  power,  a  foe. 

Who  ANNE  (her  country's  parent)  thought 
Still,  lovely  princess !  ML  the  saint , 

And  praises  to  her  ashes  brought, 
An  humble  off'ring  to  her  fame. 

Not  mindless  of  the  prelate  great, 
By  statute  sent  across  the  main , 

A  father,  tried  in  either  state, 

He  loved,  and  was  beloved  again. 

Snfe  from  the  foes  he  ne'er  could  fear, ' 
Unhurt  in  dust  he  lays  him  down  ; 

Whether  you  praise  him  with  a  sneer, 
Or  sonrly  blame  him  with  a  frown. 


252  SAMUEL  WESI.RV,  JI'\. 

The  fourth  stanza  relates  to  Lines  on  the  death  of  Queen  Anne,  which 
will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  memoir ;  and  the  fifth  to  Bishop  Atter- 
bury.  Both  copies  are  in  Mr.  Wesley's  own  handwriting,  and  un- 
doubtedly of  his  own  composing. 

The  bishop  himself  was  not  less  severe  on  his  persecutor,  than  his 
friend  Mr.  S.  Wesley  was.  Witness  the  following  lines  On  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  by  Bishop  Jltterbury. 

Three  Frenchmen,  grateful  in  their  way, 
Sir  Robert's  glory  would  display. 
Studious  by  sister  arts  to  advance 
The  honour  of  a  friend  to  France ; 
They  consecrate  to  Walpole's  fame 
Picture,  and  verse,  and  anagram. 
With  mottos  quaint  the  print  they  dress, 
With  snakes,  with  rocks,  with  goddesses, 
Their  lines  beneath,  the  subject  fit 
As  well  for  quantity  as  wit. 
Thy  glory,  Walpole,  thus  enroll'd, 
E'en  foes  delighted  may  behold. 
For  ever  sacred  be  to  THEE, 
Such  sculpture  and  such  poetry ! 

"  It  is  not  a  little  to  Mr.  Wesley's  honour  that  he  was  one  of  the 
projectors,  and  a  careful  and  active  promoter,  of  the  first  infirmary  set 
up  at  Westminster,  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  needy,  in  the  year  1719  ; 
and  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  it  greatly  flourish  from  a  very  small 
beginning,  and  to  propagate  by  its  example,  under  the  prudent  manage- 
ment of  other  good  persons,  many  pious  establishments  of  the  same 
kind  in  distant  parts  of  the  nation."  (Account  of  Mr.  S.  Wesley,  by  a 
friend.) 

Among  Mr.  S.  Wesley's  letters  I  find  one  to  his  brother  John,  which 
contains  some  curious  family  matters  ;  particularly  respecting  a  project 
of  the  latter  to  draw  the  character  of  every  branch  of  the  family,  the 
commencement  of  which  he  had  submitted  to  his  brother  for  his  appro- 
bation. Whether  this  project  was  ever  completed  I  cannot  tell ;  or  if 
so,  whether  the  document  exists  ;  if  it  do,  it  is  riot  in  any  place  to  which 
I  have  had  access. 

"Dean's  Yard,  JVbr.  18,  1727. 

"  DEAR  JACK, — I  am  obliged  to  you  for  the  beginning  of  the  por- 
trait of  our  family  ;  how  I  may  judge  when  I  see  the  whole,  tho'  I  may 
guess  nearly  within  myself,  I  cannot  positively  affirm  to  you.  There 
is,  I  think,  not  above  one  particular  in  all  the  character  which  you  have 
drawn  at  length  that  needs  farther  explanation ; — when  you  say  you 
can  bring  ear-witnesses  to  attest,  whether  that  attestation  relates  only 
to — money  sent — or  to  that  bed.  That  bed  too  1 — Jealousy  naturally 
increases  with  age,  of  which  I  think  one  of  the  best  uses  we  can  make 
is,  to  guard  against  it  betimes,  before  the  habit  grows  strong. 

"  I  hope  your  being  in  the  country,  as  it  is  some  inconvenience  to 
you,  so  it  will  be  a  considerable  help  one  way  or  other  to  friends  at 
Wroott,  else  I  shall  be  tempted  to  wish  you  at  Oxford  ;  as  I  heartily  do 
my  brother  Charles,  though  it  is  too  late  to  tell  him  so  now,  since  ho 
cannot  possibly  save  this  term,  unless  he  be  there  already. 


SAMI'EI.  WE8I.KY,  JUX.  253 

**  You  send  me  no  account  of  your  negotiation  with  the  dean  for  his 
absence  ;  but  I  don't  blame  you  since  you  filled  every  corner  of  your 
own  paper  with  much  more  important  matters  than  any  thing  his  lord- 
ship can  say  or  do,  even  tho'  Charles's  studentship  were  to  depend  upon 
it,  as  I  hope  it  will  not. 

"  I  hope  I  shall  send  a  letter  with  your  receipt  and  certificate  this 
evening ;  and  with  orders  once  more  to  inquire  of  Mr.  Tooke  whether 
he  has  asked  you  leave  to  be  absent  the  greater  part  of  the  quarter,  or 
the  whole,  as  it  may  happen. 

"  My  wife  and  I  join  in  love  and  duty  ;  and  beg  my  father's  and  mo- 
ther's blessing.  I  would  to  God  they  were  as  easy  in  one  another,  and 
as  little  uneasy  in  their  fortunes  as  ice  are  !  In  that  sense  perhaps  you 
may  say  I  am,  Tydides  melior  patris ;  tho'  I  believe  there  is  scarce 
more  work  to  be  done  at  Wroote  than  here,  tho'  we  have  fewer  debts  to 
discharge.  Next  Christmas  I  hope  to  be  as  clear  as  I  have  hoped  to 
be  these  seven  years.  Charles  is,  I  think,  in  debt  for  a  letter :  but  I 
don't  desire  he  should  imagine  it  discharged  by  setting  his  name  in  your 
letter,  or  interlining  a  word  or  two.  I  must  conclude,  because  my 
paper  is  done,  and  company  come  in. 

"  I  am  your  affectionate  friend  and  brother, 

"S.  WESLEY." 

What  all  this  letter  relates  to  will  be  best  seen  by  other  parts  of  the 
general  history. 

Mr.  Wesley  being  disappointed  of  the  under-mastership  at  West- 
minster, to  which  he  had  every  kind  of  title,  we  need  not  wonder  that 
Dean's  Yard  could  no  longer  have  attractions  for  him.  His  health  in 
it  had  been  greatly  impaired  by  a  conscientious  and  rigorous  fulfilment 
of  his  duties,  and  by  his  close  and  intense  study :  he  was  therefore 
the  more  easily  persuaded  to  accept  a  situation  in  the  country. 

About  the  year  1732,  there  happened  to  be  a  vacancy  in  the  head- 
mastership  of  the  free  school  at  Tiverton  in  Devonshire.  Without  any 
solicitation  on  his  part,  he  was  invited  thither.  He  accepted  it,  and 
held  the  situation  till  his  death. 

This  school  was  founded  by  Mr.  Peter  Blundell,  (a  clothier  of  that 
town,)  in  1619 ;  who  handsomely  endowed  it  for  a  master  and  usher ; 
and  gave  two  fellowships  and  two  scholarships  to  Sidney  college,  Cam- 
bridge, and  one  fellowship  and  two  scholarships  to  Baliol  college, 
Oxford*  for  scholars  here  educated.  The  founder  of  this  institution 
Mr.  Wesley  has  commemorated  in  the  following  lines  : — 

ON  MR.  PETER  BLUNDELL, 

Founder  of  the  Grammar  School  in  Tiverton,  Devon. 

Famam  extendere  Jactis, 
Hoe  virtutis  opus. 

Exempt  from  sordid  and  ambitious  views, 
Blest  with  the  art  to  gain,  and  heart  to  use, 
Not  satisfied  with  life's  poor  span  alone, 
Klundell  through  ages  sends  his  blessings  down. 
Since  worth  to  raise,  and  learning  to  support 
A  patriarch'*  lift-time  had  appeared  too  short  • 


254  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUN. 

While  letters  gain  esteem  in  wisdom's  eyes, 
Till  justice  is  extinct,  and  mercy  dies, 
His  alms  perpetual  not  by  time  confined, 
Last  with  the  world,  and  end  but  with  mankind. 

In  the  year  1733,  having  solicited  his  brother  John  to  stand  god- 
father for  one  of  Mrs.  Wright's  children,  and  receiving  a  refusal  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  discharge  the  duties  im- 
posed on  him  in  accepting  that  office,  &c,  he  wrote  again  pressing  the 
subject.  From  this  letter  I  shall  make  the  following  extract,  as  it  is 
highly  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  his  summary  mode  of  reasoning: — 

" Your  reasons  for  not  standing  for  Hetty's  child  are  good  ; 

and  yet  were  they  as  good  again,  there  is  one  against  them  that  would 
make  them  good  for  nothing,  viz.  the  child  will  hardly  be  christened  at 
ail,  unless  you  and  I  stand.  E  malis  minimum. 

"  The  charge  need  not  fright,  for  I'll  lay  down.  Tell  me  as  soon  as 
you  can  your  answer  to  this  paragraph.  Some  in  Johnson's  hold  the 
matter  to  be  indifferent,  and  so  excuse  themselves.  I'll  find  a  repre- 
sentative for  you  as  well  as  pence,  if  you  do  but  give  me  my  commission. 
Write  soon.  I  am,  dear  J.,  your  affectionate,  &c, 

"S,  WESLEY. 

"  June  21,  1733." 

As  the  affairs  of  Georgia  are  in  a  certain  way  connected  with  all  the 
branches  of  the  Wesley  family,  it  will  be  necessary  here  to  give  some 
account  of  that  settlement. 

Georgia  is  the  most  southern  of  the  United  States  of  America ; 
bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Atlantic  ocean,  on  the  south  by  the  Floridas, 
on  the  west  by  the  Mississippi,  and  on  the  north-east  and  north  by  South 
Carolina  and  Tennessee.  The  settlement  of  a  colony  there  was  first 
proposed  in  1732,  for  the  accommodation  of  poor  people  in  Great  Bri- 
tain and  Ireland,  by  several  very  humane  and  opulent  men ;  and  King 
George  II.  granted  them  letters  patent  June  9,  1732,  for  legally  carry- 
ing into  execution  their  benevolent  design ;  and  the  place  was  called 
Georgia  in  honour  of  the  British  king.  In  November,  1732,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  settlers  embarked  for  that  colony,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Mr.  James  Oglethorpe,  who  chose  Savannah  for  the  place 
of  settlement,  where  he  built  a  fort,  &c.  Three  years  afterward  Mr. 
Oglethorpe,  having  returned  to  England,  re-embarked  with  five  hun- 
dred and  seventy  adventurers,  among  whom  were  one  hundred  and 
thirty  Highlanders,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy^  Germans. 

As  there  was  an  intimacy  between  Mr.  Oglethorpe  and  the  Wesley 
family,  he  proposed  to  Mr.  John  Wesley  to  accompany  him  as  chaplain 
to  the  colony,  and  missionary  to  the  Indians  ;  and  he  took  Mr.  Charles 
Wesley  as  his  secretary.  It  was  in  company  with  part  of  the  above 
adventurers  that  the  two  brothers,  with  Mr.  Oglethorpe,  embarked 
aboard  the  Symmonds  at  Gravesend,  Oct.  14,  1735,  and  sailed  for 
Georgia.  See  Mr.  John  Wesley's  Journal  for  the  full  account. 

While  his  brothers  John  and  Charles  were  in  Georgia,  Mr.  Samuel 
Wesley  kept  up  with  them  an  affectionate  and  instructive  correa- 
poncfence. 


SAMUEL  WE8LEV,  JON.  255 

To  Charles,  who  began  to  feel  himself  out  of  his  place  by  being  in 
Frederica,  where  he  had  some  most  grievous  crosses  to  bear,  of  which 
he  bitterly  complained  to  his  brother,  as  well  as  of  that  want  of  regene- 
ration, of  which  he  was  now  fully  convinced,  he  wrote  the  following 
letter : — 

"  Tiverton,  Devon,  Sept.  21,  1736. 

"DEAR  CHARLES, — To  make  full  amends  for  my  not  hearing  from 
you  at  first,  1  have  received  four  letters  from  you  within  this  month,  of 
each  of  which  according  to  their  dates.  To  that  of  April  8,  .Frederica, 
eight  at  night,  I  answer  thus  : — I  own  the  will  of  G«d  in  your  being  in 
America,  that  is,  the  order  of  his  providence  :  but  I  do  not  see  that  it 
was  the  will  of  God  in  another  sense,  as  it  is  the  rule  of  your  action. 
Before  I  confess  that,  I  must  have  a  text  either  plainly  or  probably  ap- 
plied. You  seem  to  be  under  severe  trials ;  and  I  might  with  full  as 
much  justice,  quote,  Let  no  man  say,  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted 
of  God,  as  ever  you  could  do,  He  that  loveth  father  and  mother  more 
than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me.  It  was  God's  will  too  that  I  should  come 
hither ; — how  else  am  1  here  ]  For  who  hath  resisted  his  will  in  that 
sense  ?  I  am  in  a  desert  as  well  as  you,  having  no  conversable  crea- 
ture but  my  wife,  till  my  mother  came  last  week ;  at  which  that  I  am 
no  more  grieved  is  perhaps  my  fault.  Your  fearing  a  cure  of  souls  is 
no  argument  against  your  fitness  for  it,  but  the  contrary.  What  4  in- 
delible character'  means,  I  do  not  thoroughly  understand  :  but  I  plainly 
know  what  is  said  of  him  who  putteth  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  look- 
eth  back.  Your  wishing  yourself  out  of  the  reach  of  temptation  is  but 
wishing  yourself  in  heaven. 

*'  That  you  had  lived  eighteen  years  without  God  I  either  do  not  un- 
derstand, or  I  absolutely  deny.  My  wife  loses  none  of  your  love,  if 
repaying  it  in  kind  be  putting  it  to  the  right  use. 

"  To  yours  of  April  28. — '  You  repent  not  of  obedience  to  Divine 
Providence.'  I  hope  not ;  and  I  hope  I  never  persuaded  you  to  diso- 
bedience. I  am  sure  coming  back  to  England  will  not  be  looking  back 
from  the  plough,  while  you  can  exercise  your  ministry  here.  Jack's 
passions,  if  I  know  any  thing  of  him,  never  were  of  the  same  kind  as 
yours.  I  advised  him  to  go — not  you ;  nor  will  ever  consent  to  your 
staying. 

"  Never  spare  unburthening  yourself  to  me  :  why  you  should  have 
waited  even  years  for  that  purpose — Jack  can  tell. 

41  That  '  sister  Emily  ever  retracted  her  consent'  she  utterly  denies, 
for  she  says  she  never  gave  it.  By  that  I  see  I  did  no  more  than  was 
absolutely  necessary,  when  I  used  the  strongest  terms  to  express  my 
meaning ;  lest  I  might  have  been  brought  in  for  being  passive  at  least ; 
though  I  never  would,  should,  or  could,  have  consented. 

44 1  own  I  cannot  rejoice  in  your  affliction  any  more  than  in  my  own  : 
it  is  not  for  the  present  joyous  but  grievous.  God  grant  a  happy  end 
and  meeting !  I  use  a  holiday,  St.  Matthew's  day,  to  converse  with 
you.  Why  may  not  the  same  man  be  both  publican  and  apostle  ! 

"  However,  if  you  can  get  hither,  you  may  keep  your 
though  not  your  receipt  of  customs. 


256  SAMUEL  WESLEV,   JUN. 

"  To  yours  of  May  5. — I  heartily  wish  you  joy  of  the  danger  being 
over.  1  would  send  what  you  write  for :  but  your  next  letter  gives 
me  hopes  of  your  being  here,  before  the  cargo  could  come  to  you. 
Jlllix  I  had  sent  for  to  London,  before  your  letters  reached  me,  Law- 
rence I  do  not  altogether  approve  of,  but  begin  to  doubt ;  though  that 
should  be  no  reason  against  my  sending  it.  What  the  books  are,  p.  100, 
I  comprehend  not:  but  I  suppose  they  are  recommended  in  some  P.  100 
I  have  not  seen  ;  perhaps  in  a  journal  that  was  to  come  to  rne  by  a  safe 
hand,  but  has  never  arrived  at  all.  I  wish  you  joy  of  amor  sceleratus 
habendi.  I  can  say  little  of  Phil,  but  that  she  wants  you.  Br.  Hall's 
is  a  black  story.  There  was  no  great  likelihood  of  his  being  a  favourite 
with  me  :  his  tongue  is  too  smooth  for  my  roughness,  and  rather  inclines 
me  to  suspect  than  believe.  Indeed  I  little  suspected  the  horrid  truth : 
but  finding  him  on  the  reserve,  I  thought  he  was  something  like  Riving- 
ton,  and  feared  me  as  a  jester ;  which  is  a  sure  sign  either  of  guilt  on 
the  one  hand,  or  pride  on  the  other.  It  is  certainly  true  of  that  mar- 
riage ;  it  will  not,  and  it  cannot  come  to  good.  He  is  now  at  a  curacy 
in  Wiltshire,  near  Marlbro'.  I  have  no  correspondence  with  Kez  :  I 
did  design  it  after  reading  yours ;  but  the  hearing  she  is  gone  to  live 
with  Patty  and  her  husband  made  me  drop  my  design. 

"  Yours  from  Savannah,  May  15,  is  your  last  and  best  letter,  because 
it  brings  news  that  you  design  to  come  back  as  soon  as  you  can.  The 
sooner  the  better,  say  I ;  for  I  know  Mr.  0.  will  not  leave  the  place^ 
till  he  thinks  it  for  the  public  good  so  to  do. 

"  September  28.  So  long  have  I  been  forced  to  stay  for  time  to 
transcribe,  (most  wretched  work,)  and  to  go  on,  which  is  pleasant 
enough.  I  have  had  a  sort  of  a  ship  journal  of  Jack's,  ending  at  his 
being  upon  the  coast ;  but  have  had  nothing  of  that  kind  since  his  land- 
ing. Glad  shall  I  be  of  a  full  and  authentic  account,  which  I  begin  to 
perceive  I  shall  hardly  have  till  I  see  you. 

"  If  Jack  will  continue  Kezzy's  allowance,  should  she  come  hither, 
she  might  pay  me  for  her  board,  which  I  cannot  afford  to  give  her,  be 
a  great  comfort  to  her  mother,  and  avoid  the  hazard  of  strong  tempta- 
tions either  to  discontent  on  the  one  hand,  or  what  is  much  worse  on 
the  other.  If  this  comes  to  your  hand  before  you  sail  for  England,  I 
wish  you  would  bring  Jack's  resolution  upon  that  point :  but  except 
he  will  engage  to  continue  the  stipend,  I  must  not  take  her  in  ;  for  I  can 
do  no  more  than  I  can  do.  Supposing  that  he  intends  to  spend  his  life 
in  India,  which  seems  most  probable, — why  or  wherefore  should  he 
refuse  the  fifty  povnds  ?  If  he  is  not  poor, — does  he  know  none  that 
is  ?  There  appears  much  more  danger  of  pride  in  refusing  it,  than  there 
can  be  of  avarice  in  accepting  so  small  a  sum. 

"  Michaelmas  day.  This  third  time  I  am  come  to  go  on  with  my 
writing ;  but  must  be  somewhat  shorter  than  my  paper  would  admit, 
because  of  going  to  church.  My  mother  sends  her  love  and  blessing 
to  you  and  Jack ;  and  bids  me  to  tell  you  she  hopes  to  see  you  again 
in  England,  without  any  danger  of  a  second  separation. 

"  My  wife  and  I  join  in  love  ;  and  Phil,  according  to  her  years,  in 
duty.  I  heartily  pray  God  to  prosper  you  in  public  and  private  where 
you  are ;  and  to  give  you  a  safe  voyage  back,  and  a  long  and  happy 


WESLEY,   JT  N.  257 

abode  here !     I  am,  dear  Charles,  your  most  affectionate  and  faithful 
friend  and  brother, 

"  SAMUEL  WESLEY. 
"  Blunders  School,  Tiverton,  Devon, 
"  September  29,  1736. 

"  My  hearty  love  and  service  to  Mrs.  0 ." 

Mr.  Charles  IVesley,  according  to  the  purpose  referred  to  in  the  pre- 
ceding letter,  sailed  from  Boston,  October  25, 1736,  and  landed  at  Deal 
on  the  31st  of  December  following.  His  brother  John  continued  about 
a  year  longer  ;  he  arrived  in  England  January  30,  1738.  Being  both 
fervent  in  spirit,  they  on  their  return  powerfully  proclaimed  repentance 
toward  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  strongly  in- 
sisted on  the  necessity  of  being  born  again,  and  of  having  the  witness 
of  God's  Spirit  with  theirs,  that  they  were  thus  born  of  God.  At  first, 
all  the  churches  in  London  were  open  to  them  ;  and  the  people  flocked 
together  to  see  and  hear  two  weather-beaten  missionaries,  whose  skin 
appeared  as  if  tanned  by  their  continual  exposure  to  the  suns  and  winds 
of  summer  and  winter  on  the  continent  of  America.  God  attended 
their  preaching  with  the  power  and  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Multitudes  were  turned  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God ;  and  many  obtained  that  faith  in  Christ  by  which  the 
guilt  of  sin  was  removed,  and  the  fear  of  death  taken  away  ;  and  had 
the  Spirit  of  God  witnessing  with  theirs  that  they  were  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  God  Almighty.  The  crowds  that  attended  the  churches 
where  they  preached  were  so  great  that  the  clergy  thought  it  proper  to 
refuse  them  any  farther  use  of  their  pulpits  ;  and  hence,  being  turned 
out  of  these,  they  went  to  the  highways  and  hedges  to  compel  sinners 
to  come  to  the  marriage  feast.  For  as  they  had  sufficiently  learned  that 
nothing  but  the  Gospel  could  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
them  that  believe,  they  boldly  and  zealously  proclaimed  Christ  cruci- 
fied wherever  they  found  a  crowd  of  sinners  ;  using  extempore  prayer, 
and  preaching  without  notes.  This  seemed  a  new  thing  in  the  earth  ; 
and  while  multitudes  were  awakened  and  turned  to  God,  several  who 
did  not  think  that  such  extraordinary  exertions  were  necessary,  ridi- 
culed their  zeal ;  and  others  who  imagined  God  could  not  give  his 
approbation  to  any  kind  of  spiritual  service  that  was  not  performed 
within  the  walls  of  a  church,  became  greatly  offended  :  and  it  is  a  fact 
that  not  a  few  opposed  and  blasphemed. 

Their  eldest  brother,  Mr.  Samuel  fVcsley,  who  was  a  very  high 
Churchman,  considered  their  conduct  as  little  less  than  a  profanation  of 
the  Christian  ministry ;  and  as  both  the  doctrines  they  preached,  and 
their  mode  of  acting,  were  grossly  misrepresented  to  him,  he  conceived 
a  violent  prejudice  against  their  proceedings,  and  went  too  far  with 
their  detractors  in  condemning  them  unheard. 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  though  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and  prudence, 
was  too  apt  to  conceive  prejudice  against  any  thing  that  appeared  con- 
trary to  his  notions  of  the  orthodox  faith,  and  any  Churchman  who  in 
the  slightest  degree  varied  from  establishing  ecclesiastical  order.  On 

33 


258  SAMDEL  WKSLEY,  JON. 

these  grounds  the  conduct  of  his  brothers  was  beheld  by  him  with  a 
jealous  eye ;  and  his  mind  at  last  became  evil  affected  toward  them 
by  the  ridiculous  tales  that  some  of  his  correspondents  had  been  indus- 
trious to  glean  up  ;  and  especially  by  those  of  a  Mrs.  Hutton,  at  whose 
house  Mr.  Charles  Wesley,  and  afterward  Mr.  John,  lodged  after  their 
return  from  Georgia. 

By  this  lady's  information,  who  was  both  weak  and  unawakened, 
having  no  knowledge  whatever  of  experimental  religion,  he  was  led 
to  consider  his  brothers  full  as  erroneous  in  their  doctrines  as  they 
were  singular  and  irregular  in  their  ministerial  conduct ;  and  in  short, 
on  her  authority,  to  set  down  his  brother  John  as  a  lunatic  or  madman  ! 

Many  letters  passed  between  these  two  brothers  in  consequence  of 
the  letters  of  Mrs.  Hutton ;  and  as  a  good  part  of  this  correspondence 
has  been  published  by  the  late  Dr.  Priestley,  who,  by  some  means  not 
well  accounted  for,  got  possession  of  these  family  documents,  on  some 
parts  of  which,  in  his  Address  to  the  Methodists,  he  has  made  very  ex- 
ceptionable comments,  I  judge  it  necessary  to  lay  the  whole  before  the 
reader,  supplying  the  deficiencies  in  Dr.  Priestley's  publication  from 
documents  in  my  own  possession. 

The  points  to  which  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  chiefly  objected,  were,  the 
.powerful  effects  produced  under  his  brother's  preaching,  the  sudden 
convictions  and  instantaneous  conversions,  together  with  the  pro- 
fessions of  those  who  were  thus  converted,  that  they  knew  they  were 
pardoned,  having  a  clear  evidence  from  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  own 
minds  that  they  were  passed  from  death  to  life.  This  experience  he 
held  to  be  utterly  impossible  ;  and  all  who  professed  to  have  it  passed 
with  him  as  hypocrites,  enthusiasts,  fanatics,  shallow-pates  and  mad- 
men. Even  his  own  brothers  fell  under  this  general  censure.  Added 
to  this,  Mr.  Samuel  found  it  difficult  to  believe  that  a  regular  perform- 
ance of  moral  duties,  attending  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  and  duly 
receiving  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  were  not  the  conditions 
of  our  acceptance  with  God.  On  some  of  these  points  he  certainly  had 
not  a  distinct  and  clear  view  of  some  of  the  most  important  doctrines 
of  his  own  Church.  At  the  time  of  the  controversy  with  his  brother 
John  he  most  assuredly  had  not  a  Scriptural  notion  of  the  depth  and 
extent  of  original  corruption,  of  the  necessity  of  the  atonement,  of  justi- 
fication by  faith,  nor  of  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  exerted  to 
convince  the  world  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment,  and  to  enlight- 
en, quicken,  sanctify,  and  seal,  the  souls  of  believers.  All  this  is  so 
evident  from  his  letters,  that  there  is  no  room  left  for  the  necessity  of 
conjecture  or  surmise. 

He  did  not  like  the  singularity  of  his  brothers'  conduct  when  in  Ox- 
ford, before  they  went  to  America ;  and  still  less  their  doctrines,  and 
mode  of  proceeding,  after  their  return.  On  all  these  subjects  he 
expresses  his  mind  in  the  following  controversy  with  little  ceremony  ; 
and  often  with  a  magisterial  severity  that  savoured  too  much  of  intole- 
rant principles,  of  the  character  of  the  schoolmaster,  and  the  austerity 
of  thu  elder  brother.  But  we  should  make  some  allowance  for  the  high 
notions  of  Church  authority  and  prerogative  in  which  he  was  educated. 
Beside,  he  was  eleven  years  older  than  the  eldest  of  his  two  brothers. 


SAMUEL    WESI.ET,  JUS.  259 

concerned  in  this  correspondence,  and  he  did  not  like  to  be  taught  the 
first  principles  of  religion  by  his  juniors. 

Mrs.  Hutton's  first  letter  is  the  following  : — 

"  June  6,  1738. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — You  will  be  surprised  to  see  a  letter  from  me  :  but 
Mr.  Hutton  and  I  are  really  under  a  very  great  concern,  and  know  not 
whom  to  apply  to  if  you  cannot  help  us.  After  you  left  London,  and 
your  brothers  had  lost  the  conveniency  of  your  house,  believing  them 
good  and  pious  Christians,  we  invited  them  to  make  the  same  use  of 
ours,  and  thought  such  an  offer  would  not  be  unacceptable  to  God  or 
to  them,  which  they  received  with  signs  of  friendship,  and  took  up  with 
such  accommodations  as  our  house  could  afford,  from  time  to  time,  as 
they  had  occasion.  Mr.  Charles,  at  his  arrival  in  England,  was  re- 
ceived and  treated  with  such  tenderness  and  love  as  he  could  have  been 
in  your  house ; — Mr.  John  the  same ; — and  as  occasion  has  offered, 
at  different  times,  ten  or  twelve  of  their  friends.  But  your  brother 
John  seems  to  be  turned  a  wild  enthusiast,  or  fanatic  ;  and  to  our  very 
great  affliction  is  drawing  our  two  children  into  these  wild  notions,  by 
their  great  opinion  of  Mr.  John's  sanctity  and  judgment.  It  would  be 
a  great  charity  to  many  other  honest,  well  meaning,  simple  souls,  as 
well  as  to  my  children,  if  you  could  either  confine  or  convert  Mr.  John 
when  he  is  with  you  ;  for  after  his  behaviour  on  Sunday  the  28th  of 
May,  when  you  hear  it,  you  will  think  him  not  a  quite  right  man. 

"  Without  ever  acquainting  Mr.  Hutton  with  any  of  his  notions  or 
designs,  when  Mr.  Hutton  had  ended  a  sermon  of  Bishop  Blackhall's, 
which  he  had  been  reading  in  his  study  to  a  great  number  of  people, 
Mr.  John  got  up  and  told  the  people  that  five  days  before  he  was  not  a 
Christian,  and  this  he  was  as  well  assured  of  as  that  five  days  before  he 
was  not  in  that  room  ;  and  the  way  for  them  all  to  be  Christians  was  to 
believe  and  own  that  they  were  not  now  Christians.  Mr.  Hutton  was 
much  surprised  at  this  unexpected  injudicious  speech  :  but  only  said, 
Have  a  care,  JVfr.  Wesley,  how  you  despise  the  benefits  received  by  the 
two  sacraments.  I  not  being  in  the  study  when  this  speech  was  made, 
had  heard  nothing  of  it  when  he  came  into  the  parlour  to  supper ; 
where  were  my  two  children,  two  or  three  of  his  deluded  followers,  two 
or  three  ladies  who  board  with  me,  my  niece,  and  two  or  three  gentle- 
men of  Mr.  John's  acquaintance,  though  not  got  into  his  new  notions. 
He  made  the  same  wild  speech  again  ;  to  which  I  made  answer, — *  If 
you  was  not  a  Christian  ever  since  I  knew  you,  you  was  a  great  hypo- 
crite ;  for  you  made  us  all  believe  you  was  one.'  He  said, '  When  we 
had  renounced  every  thing  but  faith,  and  then  got  into  Christ,  then,  and 
not  till  then,  had  we  any  reason  to  believe  we  were  Christians  ;  and 
when  we  had  so  got  Christ,  we  might  keep  him,  and  so  be  kept  from 
sin.' 

"  Mr.  Hutton  said,  'If  faith  only  was  necessary  to  save  us,  why  did 
our  Lord  give  us  that  divine  sermon  V  Mr.  John  said,  '  That  was  the 
lettei' that  killeth.'  '  Hold,'  says  Mr.  Hutton,  *  you  seem  not  to  know 
what  you  say  ;  are  our  Lord's  words  the  letter  that  killeth  ?'  Mr.  John 
»ald,  *  Jfwe  had  nofailh.'  Mr.  Hutton  replied, '  /  did  not  ask  you 


2GO  SAMUEL    WESLET,   JUN. 

we  should  receive  it  ?  but  why  our  Lord  gave  it,  as  also  the  account  of 
the  judgment  in  the  twenty-fifth  of  Matthew,  if  works  are  not  what  he 
expects,  but  faith  only  ?' 

*'  Now  it  is  a  most  melancholy  thing  to  have  not  only  our  two  chil- 
dren, but  many  others,  to  disregard  all  teaching,  but  by  such  a  spirit 
as  comes  to  some  in  dreams,  to  others  in  such  visions  as  will  surprise 
you  to  hear  of.  If  there  cannot  be  some  stop  put  to  this,  and  unless 
he  can  be  taught  true  humility,  the  mischief  he  will  do  wherever  he 
goes  among  the  ignorant  but  well  meaning  Christians  will  be  very 
great. 

"  Mr.  Charles  went  from  my  son's  where  he  lay  ill  for  some  time  ; 
and  would  not  come  to  our  house,  where  I  offered  him  the  choice  of 
two  of  my  best  rooms  ;  but  he  would  accept  of  neither,  but  chose  to 
go  to  a  poor  brazier's  in  Little  Britain,  that  that  brazier  might  help 
him  forward  in  his  conversion,  which  was  completed  on  May  22,  as  his 
brother  John  was  praying.  Mr.  John  was  converted,  or  I  know  not 
what,  or  how,  but  made  a  Christian,  May  25.  A  woman  had  beside  a 
previous  dream :  a  ball  of  fire  fell  upon  her  and  burst,  and  fired  her 
soul.  Another  young  man,  when  he  was  in  St.  Dunston's  Church,  just 
as  he  was  going  to  receive  the  sacrament,  had  God  the  Father  come  to 
him,  but  did  not  stay  with  him :  but  God  the  Son  did  stay,  who  came 
with  him  holding  his  cross  in  his  hands. 

"  I  cannot  understand  the  use  of  these  relations  :  but  if  you  doubt 
the  truth,  or  your  brother  denies  them,  I  can  produce  undeniable  proofs 
of  the  relation  of  such  facts  from  the  persons  who  related  the  facts,  that 
they  had  received  such  appearances. 

"  Mr.  John  has  abridged  the  life  of  one  Haliburton,  a  Presbyterian 
teacher  in  Scotland.  My  son  had  designed  to  print  it,  to  show  the 
experiences  of  that  holy  man,  of  indwelling,  &c.  Mr.  Hutton  and  1 
have  forbid  our  son  being  concerned  in  handing  such  books  into  the 
world  :  but  if  your  brother  John  or  Charles  think  it  will  tend  to  promote 
God's  glory,  they  will  soon  convince  my  son  God's  glory  is  to  be  prefer- 
red to  his  parents'  commands.  Then  you  will  see  what  I  never  expected, 
my  son  promoting  rank  fanaticism. 

"  If  you  can,  dear  sir,  put  a  stop  to  such  madness,  which  will  be  a 
work  worthy  of  you,  a  singular  charity,  and  very  much  oblige 
"  Your  sincere  and  affectionate  servant, 

"  E.  HUTTON. 
"  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wesley, 
Tiverton,  Devon." 

Such  were  the  reports  and  the  reporters  on  which  Mr.  S.  Wesley 
founded  some  of  his  most  solemn  objections  to  the  doctrines  and  con- 
duct of  his  brothers  !  Prejudice  and  bigotry  alone  could  have  recourse 
to  such  evidence  in  a  case  like  this. 

Mrs.  Hutton  most  evidently  knew  little  of  the  way  of  salvation.  She 
had  heard  some  idle  tales  which  she  received  as  truth  ;  and  she  had 
heard  true  accounts,  which,  through  her  total  ignorance  of  the  work 
of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  she  continually  misrepresents. 

Were  it  not  for  her  ignorance,  the  serious  reader  must  consider  her 


S  A  ML  El.   WE3LET,  JUN.  Jd 

as  designedly  sitting  in  the  seat  of  the  scorner,  or  wilfully  uttering  blas- 
phemies. 

To  write  a  critique  on  her  letter  would  be  useless  :  it  shows  itself 
what  it  is.  Mr.  John  Wesley,  it  appears,  told  them  that  "  they  must 
repent  of  their  sins,  and  come  to  Christ  crucified,  not  to  their  misera- 
ble works  and  obedience,  for  the  remission  of  sins  ;  and  that  redemption 
in  his  blood  was  to  be  received  by  faith ;  and  that  a  conformity  in 
their  way  to  our  Lord's  sermon  on  the  mount,  could  not  atone  for  sin 
that  was  past,  or  reconcile  them  to  the  offended  justice  of  a  holy 
God." 

This,  though  the  doctrine  of  their  Church,  was  to  them  a  strange 
doctrine ;  for  it  seems  it|\vas  not  there  duly  inculcated.  Of  experi- 
mental religion  they  knew  nothing  ;  did  not  understand  its  language  ; 
and  as  far  as  they  could,  turned  it  into  ridicule. 

Under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  their  children 
were  convinced  that  they  were  sinners,  and  were  flying  to  lay  hold  on 
the  hope  set  before  them  in  the  Gospel  ;  and  this  the  poor  parents 
thought  to  be  fanaticism  and  madness ! 

The  truly  rational,  Scriptural,  and  deeply  impressive  experience  of 
Mr.  Haliburton  was,  with  Mrs.  Hutton,  rank  fanaticism  ;  and  she  was 
overwhelmed  with  distress  because  her  children  were  likely  to  be  made 
partakers  of  the  same  grace  ! 

This  one  circumstance  is  sufficient  to  show  in  what  state  Mrs. 
Hutton  was  ;  and  how  utterly  incapable  she  was  of  judging  rightly  in 
matters  pertaining  to  vital  religion. 

That  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  a  man  of  learning  and  of  a  sound  judg- 
ment, could  have  entertained  such  representations  ;  that  he  could  not 
see,  in  this  tissue  of  misrepresentations  and  confusion,  the  violent 
prejudice,  and  total  ignorance  of  his  correspondent,  is  strange  indeed  1 
That  he  should  have  given  her  a  serious  answer  in  matters  in  which  the 
honour  and  character  of  his  brothers  were  concerned,  whom  he  knew 
to  be  men  of  common  sense  and  deep  piety,  is  yet  more  strange  !  But 
he  was  himself  at  that  time  prejudiced  and  highly  bigoted  :  and  preju- 
dice has  neither  eyes  nor  ears.  I  shall  subjoin  his  answer  : — 

"  Tiverton,  Deron,  June  17,  1738. 

"  DEAR  MADAM, — I  am  sufficiently  sensible  of  yours  and  Mr.  Hut- 
ton's  kindness  to  my  brothers,  and  shall  always  acknowledge  it ;  and 
cannot  blame  you  either  for  your  concern,  or  writing  to  me  about  it. 

"  Falling  into  enthusiasm,  is  being  lost  with  a  witness ;  and  if  you 
are  troubled  for  two  of  your  children,  you  may  be  sure  I  am  so  for  <tr«> 
whom  I  may  in  some  sense  call  mine ;  who,  if  once  turned  that  way, 
will  do  a  world  of  mischief,  much  more  than  even  otherwise  they  would 
have  done  good ;  since  men  are  much  easier  to  be  led  into  evil,  than 
from  it. 

"What  Jack  means  by  'not  being  a  Christian  till  last  month'  I 
understand  not.  Had  he  never  been  in  covenant  with  God  ?  Then,  as 
Mr.  Hutton  observed,  baptism  was  nothing.  Had  he,  totally  apostatized 
from  it?  I  dare  say  not;  and  yet  he  must  be  either  unbaptized,  or  an 
apostate,  to  make  his  words  Irve.  Perhaps  it  might  come  ioto  lu* 


262  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

crown  that  he  was  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin,  unrepented  of;  and  had 
long  lived  in  such  a  course.  This  I  do  not  believe  ;  however  he  must 
answer  for  himself.  But  where  is  the  sense  of  requiring  every  body 
else  to  confess  that  of  themselves  in  order  to  commence  Christians? 
Must  they  confess  it,  whether  it  be  so  or  no  1  Beside  a  sinful  course  is 
not  an  abolition  of  the  covenant,  for  that  very  reason  because  it  is  a 
breach  of  it.  If  it  were  not,  it  would  not  be  broken. 

"  Renouncing  every  thing  but  faith  may  be  every  evil,  as  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil :  this  is  a  very  orthodox  sense,  but  no  great 
discovery.  It  may  mean  rejecting  all  merit  of  our  own  good  works. 
What  Protestant  does  not  do  so  1  Even  Bellarmin,  on  his  death  bed, 
is  said  to  have  renounced  all  merits  but  those  of  Christ.  If  this 
renouncing  regards  good  works  in  any  other  sense,  as  being  unneces- 
sary or  the  like,  it  is  wretchedly  wicked ;  and  to  call  our  Saviour's 
words  the  letter  that  killeth  is  no  less  than  blasphemy  against  the  Son 
of  man.  //  is  mere  Quakerism,  making  the  outward  Christ  an  enemy 
to  the  Christ  within. 

"When  tJie  ball  of  Jlre  fired  the  woman's  soul  (an  odd  sort  of  fire 
that)  what  reference  had  it  to  my  two  brothers?  Was  the  youth  that 
had  the  Father  come  to  him,  told  any  thing  about  then  ?  Did  he  see 
any  thing,  or  only  hear  a  voice1?  What  were  the  words  if  any?  I  sup- 
pose he  will  take  shelter  in  their  being  unspeakable.  In  short,  this 
looks  like  downright  madness.  1  do  not  hold  it  at  all  unlikely  that 
perpetual  intenseness  of  thought  and  want  of  sleep  may  have  disordered 
my  brother.  I  have  been  told  that  the  Quakers'  introversion  of  thought 
has  ended  in  madness.  It  is  a  studious  stopping  of  every  thought  as 
fast  as  it  arises,  in  order  to  receive  the  Spirit.  I  wish  the  canting 
fellows  had  never  had  any  followers  among  us,  who  talk  of  indwellings, 
experiences,  getting  into  Christ,  &c,  &c.  As  I  remember  assurances 
used  to  make  a  great  noise,  which  were  carried  to  such  a  height,  that 
(as  far  as  nonsense  can  be  understood)  they  rose  to  fruition,  in  utter 
defiance  of  Christian  hope,  since  the  question  is  unanswerable,  What  a 
man  hath  why  doth  he  yet  hope  for  ?  But  I  will  believe  none  without  a 
miracle,  who  shall  pretend  to  be  wrapped  up  into  the  third  heaven. 

"  I  hope  your  son  does  not  think  it  as  plainly  revealed  that  he  shall 
print  an  enthusiastic  book,  as  it  is  that  he  shall  obey  his  father  and  his 
mother.  Suppose  it  were  never  so  excellent, — can  that  supersede 
your  authority?  God  deliver  us  from  visions  that  make  the  law  of 
God  vain. 

"  I  pleased  myself  with  the  expectation  of  seeing  Jack :  but  that  is 
now  over,  and  I  am  afraid  of  it.  I  know  not  where  to  direct  to  him, 
or  where  he  is.  Charles  I  will  write  to  as  soon  as  I  can,  and  shall  be 
glad  to. hear  from  you  in  the  mean  time. 

"  /  heartily  pray  God  to  stop  the  progress  of  this  lunacy. 

"We  join  in  service.     I  am,  dear  madam,- your  sincere  and  affec- 
tionate friend  and  servant,  SAMUEL  WESLEY." 
"  To  Mrs.  Hutton,  College-street,  Westminster." 

I  am  truly  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  notice  these  letters;  and  had 
passed  them  by  in  silence,  had  they  not  been  twice  officiously  obtruded 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JL.N.  263 

on  the  attention  of  the  public  by  men  more  eminent  for  various  other 
excellencies  than  for  candour ;  and  used  as  means  and  arguments  to 
discredit  Mr.  Wesley,  and  that  great  work  of  pure  and  undented  reli- 
gion which  he  was  the  means  in  the  hands  of  God  of  diffusing  through- 
out these  lands. 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  seems  to  take  almost  every  thing  for  granted 
that  this  very  silly  and  prejudiced  woman  related  to  him,  from  words 
ill  understood  which  fhe  had  heard,  and  miserable  fabrications  of 
misrepresented  facts,  of  which  she  says,  "  I  can  produce  undeniable 
proofs  of  the  relation  of  such  facts  from  the  persons  who  related  the 
facts,  that  they  had  received  such  appearances!"  That  is,  she  can 
bring  proofs  that  the  facts  were  related  by  the  persons  who  related 
them !  But  honest  truth  dwells  not  in  such  confusion,  nor  veils  itself 
with  such  disguises. 

I  need  not  say  what  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  duty  was  when  he  heard 
such  tales  against  his  excellent  brothers: — men  who  were  not  at  all 
inferior  to  himself  in  learning ;  who  were  at  least  his  equals  in  judg- 
ment; and  for  the  depth  of  whose  piety  he  himself  could  vouch.  He 
tells,  however,  some  sad  truths  in  his  answer  relative  to  himself.  In 
unqualified  terms  a  man  is  with  him  a  Christian  if  he  be  baptized !  He 
is  in  the  covenant  of  God,  which  even  a  course  of  sin  cannot  annul, 
though  a  life  of  that  kind  may  be  a  breach  of  it !  and  that  he  must 
have  entirely  apostatized,  that  is,  abjured  Christianity  and  blasphemed 
Christ,  (for  that  is  what  is  implied  in  total  apostasy,)  or  have  never 
been  baptized,  in  order  not  to  be  a  Christian.  With  him  water  baptism, 
and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  the  same  thing ;  an  old  and 
pernicious  error,  which  is  deceiving  thousands  even  in  the  present  day. 
As  to  his  distinction  between  mortal  sin,  and  what  is  its  opposite, 
though  unmentioned,  venial  sin,  we  know  from  what  school  it  was 
derived. 

At  this  time  Mr.  S.  Wresley  most  undoubtedly  knew  not  the  doctrine 
of faith  as  laid  down  in  the  Articles  and  Homilies  of  the  Church  :  and 
he  in  his  zeal  against  assurance,  of  which  he  had  a  very  inaccurate  and 
confused  idea,  confounds  the  hope  of  everlasting  life,  with  the  hope  or 
expectation  of  the  present  favour  and  approbation  of  God,  the  conse- 
quence of  being  justified  by  faith! 

The  illiberal  reflections  on  the  Quakers  were  not  called  for.  It  is 
not  true  that  they  make  the  outward  Christ  an  enemy  to  the  Christ 
within ;  nor,  that  their  introversion  of  thought,  (what  they  call  their 
silent  waiting  upon  God,)  ends  in  madness. 

To  conclude,  taking  it  for  granted  from  this  Huttonian  information, 
that  both  his  brothers  were  run  mad,  he  finishes  with  piously  praying 
God  to  stop  the  progress  of  this  lunacy !  What  a  revolution  of  credulity 
in  a  person  so  difficult  to  be  persuaded  to  believe  any  thing  of  which 
he  could  not  have  the  most  palpable  evidence. 

Mrs.  Hutton  is  now  encouraged  to  proceed  with  her  gleanings  ;  and 
in  the  next  letter  exceeds  her  former  self. 

"Jtt»r  20,  1738. 

"  I>F.AR  SIR, — 1  return  you  thanks  for  so  obligingly  answering  my 
letter,  for  which  I  ought  to  beg  your  pardon,  since  i  am  sensible  what 


264  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

I  have  related  must  afflict  you,  though  it  might  not  be  in  your  power  to 
lessen  my  affliction.  For  how  can  I  expect  more  regard  will  be  had 
to  a  brother  than  is  had  to  parents  ?  Though  in  reality  your  brothers 
are  much  more  obligated  to  you  than  many  children  are  to  their  parents; 
you  doing  for  them  as  a  most  kind  and  judicious  parent,  when  you  had 
not  the  same  obligation.  I  was  in  hopes  mine  to  you  would  have  met 
your  brother  John  at  Tiverton,  where  he  said  he  was  going.  If  so,  he 
could  have  explained  to  you  the  meaning  of  the  two  visions  I  sent  you 
word  of. 

"  Every  one  of  his  converts  are  directed  to  get  an  assurance  of  their 
sins  being  all  pardoned,  and  they  sure  of  their  salvation,  which  brings 
all  joy  and  peace.  And  this  is  given  them  in  an  instant,  so  that  every 
person  so  converted  is  able  to  describe  the  manner  and  time  when  they 
get  it,  as  they  call  it.  Your  brother  John  writ  his  reflections  on  Mr. 
Hervey's  paper,  in  these  words  : — '  Remission  of  sins,  and  peace  with 
God. — The  life  of  God  or  love  in  our  souls. — The  evidence  of  our 
weakness,  and  the  power  of  Christ.' 

"  My  son  felt  it  on  the  25th  of  April  at  the  blessed  sacrament,  as 
the  minister  said,  The  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  &c.  Your 
brother  Charles  felt  it  at  Mr.  Bray's  as  your  brother  John  was  praying 
for  it  for  him  on  the  22nd  of  May.  Your  brother  John  felt  it  on  the 
25th  of  May,  just  as  he  awaked. 

"  These  things  they  make  no  secrets ;  for  good  Mr.  Baldwin  told 
me  he  heard  your  brother  Charles  give  a  relation  of  a  young  man  at 
Oxford,  who  had  lived,  as  he  himself  thought,  a  very  good  and  pious 
life :  but  he  was  first  convinced  it  was  nothing,  before  he  could  get 
this  faith;  upon  which  he  threw  himself  upon  his  face,  upon  his 
chamber  floor,  and  lay  so  (I  suppose  praying)  an  hour  or  two,  and 
then  rose  up  with  great  joy  and  peace  of  mind. 

"  This  affected  Mr.  Baldwin  so  much,  that  the  next  opportunity  he 
had  to  talk  with  my  son,  he  put  into  his  hands  a  sermon  of  Bishop 
Bull's  upon  the  subject  of  the  assistance  we  may  expect  from  the  Holy 
Spirit.  But  all  authors  and  writings  but  the  Bible  are  rejected ;  and 
every  man,  if  he  will  practise  what  he  knows,  shall  have  all  the  light 
necessary  for  himself,  taught  him  from  God. 

"  They  are,  I  think,  aiming  at  something  more ;  for  my  son  told  me 
that  a  woman,  who  is  a  Dissenter,  had  three  years  and  more,  as  she 
fancied,  been  under  the  seal  of  reprobation ;  and  upon  her  coming  to 
Mr.  Bray's,  where  your  brother  Charles,  Mr.  Bray,  and  my  son,  were 
praying  for  her,  though  she  went  home  in  the  same  melancholy,  yet  in 
an  hour  after  she  sent  them  word  that  she  was  delivered  from  the 
power  of  Satan,  and  desired  them  to  return  public  thanks  for  the  same 
in  her  behalf.  I  heard  a  poor  simple  barber,  whose  name  is  Wolfe, 
relate  such  a  dream  that  a  blacksmith  had,  as  a  sign  of  his  being  just 
getting  into  Christ,  and  of  his  own  power,  as  put  me  beyond  patience. 
My  poor  son  lay  ill  of  a  fever  at  the  same  time,  with  such  a  number  of 
these  fancied  saints  about  him,  that  I  expected  nothing  but  his  weak 
brain  would  be  quite  turned.  I  think  it  is  not  far  from  it,  that  he  will 
not  give  any,  the  most  pious  or  judicious  author  his  father  recommends, 
a  reading. 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  265 

"  Now  your  brother  John  is  gone,  who  is  my  son's  pope,  it  may 
please  God,  if  you  give  yourself  the  trouble  to  try,  he  may  hear  some 
reason  from  you.  If  you  could  bring  your  brother  Charles  back,  it 
would  be  a  great  step  toward  the  reconversion  of  my  poor  son.  Your 
two  brothers  are  men  of  great  parts  and  learning ;  my  son  is  good- 
humoured,  and  very  undesigning,  and  sincerely  honest,  but  of  weak 
judgment  •  so  fitted  for  any  delusion.  It  would  be  the  greatest  charity 
you  ever  did,  and  your  charity  of  all  kinds  is  very  extensive.  If  you 
can  undeceive  your  brother  Charles  and  my  son,  it  would  put  a  stop  to 
this  wildfire. 

"  I  suppose  you  received  a  letter  from  your  brother  John  that  he 
came  to  London  the  12th  at  night,  set  forward  the  13th  without  seeing 
your  brother  Charles,  to  make  a  visit  to  Count  Zinzendorf.  I  know 
he  looks  upon  his  fancies  as  directions  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  What 
carried  him  to  Georgia  I  know  not :  but  I  can  prove  he  brought  that 
notion  with  him  to  Deal,  when  he  landed  from  Georgia ;  and  had  Mr. 
fVhitefield  believed  it,  he  had  not  proceeded  on  his  voyage  ;  John  had 
brought  him  back  by  the  direction  of  the  Spirit.  We  do  nothing  but 
pray  for  our  children,  and  all  others  under  this  strange  delusion  ;  since 
arguments  from  us,  which  to  others  seem  reasonable,  have  no  effect 
upon  them.  I  doubt  not  of  your  prayers  upon  the  same  occasion,  and 
all  other  means  your  good  judgment  shall  enable  you  to  use. 

"  I  have  been  thus  long,  to  give  you  all  the  light  I  can  into  this  affair, 
as  a  help  toward  your  finding  out  a  cure  ;  being  with  the  greatest  value 
and  respect  for  your  real,  not  imaginary  worth,  your  most  sincere,  hum- 
ble servant,  ELIZABETH  HUTTON. 

"  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley, 
at  Tiverton,  Devon." 

Poor  Mrs.  Hutton  appears  sadly  tried  because  her  sons  in  the  point 
in  question  relative  to  the  remission  of  sins  and  the  witness  of  the  Spirit, 
will  not  receive  the  authority  of  Bishop  Blackball,  Bull,  and  others ; 
but  that  of  the  BIBLE  only!  Perhaps  it  will  make  the  reader  smile  :  but 
this  brings  to  my  recollection  the  case  of  the  poor  Roman  Catholic 
woman,  who  having  lost  her  rosary,  cried  out,  "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon 
me !  Christ,  have  mercy  upon  me  !  I  have  lost  my  crucifix,  and  now 
have  nothing  but  God  Almighty  to  trust  to  !" 

That  both  the  Mr.  Wesleys  professed  to  have  received  the  know- 
ledge of  salvation  by  the  remission  of  sins  at  the  time  specified  by  Mrs. 
Hutton  is  a  fact  which  they  not  only  never  denied,  but  exulted  in  to  the 
day  of  their  death. 

The  letter  in  which  Mr.  John  Wesley  defended  himself  against  the 
misrepresentations  of  Mrs.  Hutton,  and  his  brother's  charges  founded 
on  them,  I  cannot  find  ;  it  is  most  probably  lost :  but  that  such  a  letter 
was  written  is  evident  from  his  brother  Samuel's  allusions  to  it  in  a  letter 
dated  December  13th  of  this  year,  which  shall  shortly  be  introduced. 
But  a  letter  before  me  of  the  30th  of  October  must  be  inserted  here,  as 
it  contains  Mr.  J.  Wesley's  explanation  at  large  of  his  own  state,  the 
change  that  had  passed  upon  his  soul,  and  what  he  believed  relative  to 
such  influences  of  God  upon  the  hearts  of  men. 

34 


266  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

••  October  30,  1738. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER, — That  you  will  always  receive  kindly  what  is  so 
intended  I  doubt  not.  Therefore  I  again  recommend  the  character  of 
Susurrus.  0  may  God  deliver  both  you  and  me  from  all  bitterness  and 
evil  speaking,  as  well  as  from  all  false  doctrine,  heresy,  and  schism  ! 

"  1.  With  regard  to  my  own  character,  and  my  doctrine  likewise,  I 
shall  answer  you  very  plainly.  By  a  Christian,  I  mean  one  who  so 
believes  in  Christ  as  that  sin  hath  no  more  dominion  over  him  ;  and  in 
this  obvious  sense  of  the  word,  I  was  not  a  Christian  till  May  24th  last 
past.  For  till  then  sin  had  the  dominion  over  me,  although  I  fought 
with  it  continually  :  but  surely  then,  from  that  time  to  this,  it  hath  not ; 
such  is  the  free  grace  of  God  in  Christ !  What  sins  they  were  which 
till  then  reigned  over  me,  and  from  which  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am 
now  free,  I  am  ready  to  declare  on  the  house-top,  if  it  may  be  for  the 
glory  of  God. 

"  2.  If  you  ask  by  what  means  I  am  made  free,  (though  not  perfect, 
neither  infallibly  sure  of  my  perseverance,)  I  answer,  by  faith  in  Christ: 
by  such  a  sort  or  degree  of  faith  as  I  had  not  till  that  day.  My  want 
of  this  faith  I  knew  long  before,  though  not  so  clearly  till  Sunday,  Jan- 
uary 8th  last,  when  being  in  the  midst  of  the  great  deep,  I  wrote  a  few 
lines  in  the  bitterness  of  my  soul,  some  of  which  I  have  transcribed  ; 
and  may  the  good  God  sanctify  them  both  to  you  and  me. 

4  By  the  most  infallible  of  all  proofs,  inward  feeling,  I  am  convinced 
this  day  : 

•  1.  Of  unbelief;  having  no  such  faith  in  Christ  as  will  prevent  my 
heart  from  being  troubled  ;  which  it  could  not  be  if  I  believed  in  God, 
and  rightly  believed  also  in  him. 

4  2.  Of  pride,  throughout  my  life  past ;  inasmuch  as  I  thought  I  had 
what  I  find  I  have  not.  Lord,  save,  or  I  perish !  Save  me, 

4  1st,  By  such  a  faith  in  thee  and  in  thy  Christ,  as  implies  trust,  confi- 
dence, peace  in  life  and  in  death. 

'2nd,  By  such  humility  as  may  fill  my  heart  from  this  hour  for  ever 
with  a  piercing,  uninterrupted  sense,  Nihil  est  quod  hactenusfeci ;  hav- 
ing evidently  built  without  a  foundation. 

4  3rd,  By  such  a  recollection  as  may  cry  to  thee  every  moment,  but 
more  especially  when  all  is  calm  (if  it  should  so  please  thee)  give  me 
faith  or  I  die  !  Give  me  a  lowly  spirit,  otherwise,  Mihi  non  sit  suave 
vivere.  Amen,  come,  Lord  Jesus  !  Tie  Aa/3i<5,  sXgTjgov  /xou.' 

44  Some  measure  of  this  faith  which  bringeth  salvation,  or  victory  over 
sin,  and  which  implies  peace  and  trust  in  God  through  Christ,  I  now 
enjoy  through  his  free  mercy,  though  in  very  deed  it  is  in  me  but  as  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed;  for  the  *X»]po9opia  -vi&sus,  the  seal  of  the  Spirit, 
the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  my  heart,  and  producing  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost, — joy  which  no  man  taketh  away, — joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory ;  this  witness  of  the  Spirit  I  have  not,  but  I  patiently  wait  for  it. 
I  know  many  who  have  already  received  it ;  more  than  one  or  two  in 
the  very  hour  we  were  praying  for  it.  And  having  seen  and  spoken 
with  r.  cloud  of  witnesses  abroad,  as  well  as  in  my  own  country,  I  cannot 
doubt  that  believers  who  wait  and  pray  for  it,  will  find  these  scriptures 
fulfilled  in  themselves.  My  hope  is,  that  they  will  be  fulfilled  in  me. 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  267 

I  build  upon  Christ  the  Rock  of  ages,  on  his  sure  mercies  described  in 
his  word,  and  on  his  promises,  all  which  I  know  are  yea  and  amen. 

"  Those  who  have  not  yet  received  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  love 
of  God,  and  the  plerophory  of  faith,  (any  or  all  of  which  I  take  to  be  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  sons  of  God,)  I 
believe  to  be  Christians  in  that  imperfect  sense,  wherein  I  call  myself 
such  ;  and  I  exhort  them  to  pray  that  God  would  give  them  also  to 
rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God,  and  to  feel  his  love  shed  abroad  in 
iheir  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given  unto  them. 

"  On  men  I  build  not ;  neither  on  Matilda  Chipman's  word,  whom 
I  have  not  talked  with  Jive  minutes  in  my  life ;  nor  on  any  thing 
peculiar  in  the  weak,  well  meant  relation  of  William  Herbery,  who  yet 
is  a  serious,  humble-acting  Christian.  But  have  you  been  believing 
on  these  ?  Yes :  I  find  them  more  or  less  in  almost  every  letter  you 
have  written  on  the  subject.  Yet  were  all  that  has  been  said  on 
*  visions,  dreams,  and  balls  of  fire,'  to  be  fairly  proposed  in  syllogisms, 
I  believe  it  would  prove  not  a  jot  more  on  one  than  on  the  other  side 
of  the  question. 

"  O  brother,  would  to  God  you  would  leave  disputing  of  the  things 
which  you  know  not,  (if  indeed  you  know  them  not,)  and  beg  of  God 
to  fill  up  what  is  yet  wanting  in  you.  Why  should  not  you  also  seek 
till  you  receive  that  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding? 
Who  shall  hinder  you,  notwithstanding  the  manifold  temptations,  to 
rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable,  by  reason  of  glory?  Amen,  Lord  Jesus  ! 
May  you,  and  all  who  are  near  of  kin  to  you,  (if  you  have  it  not 
already,)  feel  his  love  shed  abroad  in  your  hearts  by  his  Spirit  which 
dwelleth  in  you  ;  and  be  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which 
is  the  earnest  of  your  inheritance. 

44 1  am  yours  and  my  sister's  most  affectionate  brother, 

44  JOHN  WESLET. 

44  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wesley, 
Tiverton,  Devon." 

To  this  admirable  letter  Mr.  Samuel  thus  answered  : — 

"  Tiverlon,  Devon,  JYor.  15,  1738. 

"  DEAR  JACK, — I  have  many  remarks  to  make  on  your  letter  :  but 
do  not  care  to  fight  in  the  dark,  or  run  my  head  against  a  stone  wall. 

44  You  need  fear  no  controversy  with  me,  unless  you  think  it  worth 
while  to  remove  these  three  doubts  : — 

44 1.  Whether  you  will  own  or  disown,  in  terms,  the  necessity  of  a 
sensible  information  from  God  of  pardon  ?  If  you  disown  it,  the  matter 
is  over  as  to  you  ;  if  you  own  it,  then, — 

44  2.  Whether  you  will  not  think  me  distracted  to  oppose  you  with 
the  most  infallible  of  all  proofs,  inward  feeling  in  yourself,  and  positive 
evidence  in  your  friends,  while  I  myself  produce  neither? 

*•  3.  Whether  you  will  release  me  from  the  horns  of  your  dilemma, 
that  I  must  either  talk  without  knowledge  like  a/ooJ,  or  against  it  like 
a  l.-ittire  ?  I  conceive  neither  part  strikes.  For  a  man  may  reasonably 
argue  against  what  he  never  felt,  and  may  honestly  deny  wliat  he  has 
felt  to  be  uecessary  to  others. 


268  SAMUEL   WESLEV,   JUN. 

"  You  build  nothing  on  tales.  But  I  do.  I  see  what  is  manifestly 
built  upon  them  :  if  you  disclaim  it,  and  warn  poor  shallow  pales  of  their 
folly  and  danger,  so  much  the  better.  They  are  counted  signs  or  tokens, 
means  or  conveyances,  proofs  or  evidences,  of  the  sensible  information, 
&c,  calculated  to  turn  fools  into  madmen;  and  put  them,  without  a  jest, 
into  the  condition  of  Oliver's  Pastor. 

"  When  I  hear  visions,  &c,  reproved,  discouraged,  and  ceased  among 
the  new  brotherhood,  I  shall  then  say  no  more  of  them  :  but  till  then  I 
will  use  my  utmost  strength  that  God  shall  give  me  to  expose  these 
bad  branches  of  a  bad  root :  and  thus — 

"  Such  doctrine  as  encourages  and  abets  spiritual  fire  balls,  appari- 
tions of  the  Father,  &c,  &c,  is  delusive  and  dangerous.  But  the  sensi- 
ble necessary  information,  &c,  is  such  ;  ergo, — 

"  I  mention  not  this  to  enter  into  any  dispute  with  you,  for  you  seem 
to  disapprove,  though  not  expressly  disclaim  :  but  to  convince  you  I 
am  not  out  of  my  way,  though  encountering  of  windmills.  I  will  do 
my  best  to  make  folks  wiser. 

"  I  will  borrow  from  our  Litany  a  prayer  you  will  join  in. 

"  '  That  it  may  please  Thee  to  strengthen  such  as  do  stand  ;  to  com- 
fort and  help  the  weak-hearted  ;  to  raise  up  those  that  fall ;  and,  finally, 
to  beat  down  Satan  under  our  feet !  We  beseech  thee  to  hear  us,  good 
Lord." 

"  My  wife  joins  with  love  ;  we  are  all  pretty  well. 

"  I  am,  dear  Jack,  your  sincere  and  affectionate  friend  and  brother, 

"SAMUEL  WESLEY. 

"  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Wesley." 

I  was  about  to  make  some  severe  strictures  on  this  letter,  because  it 
is  exceedingly  disingenuous ;  and  because  it  has  been  urged  by  some 
of  the  enemies  of  Mr.  J.  Wesley  and  Methodism  as  a  triumph  over 
their  doctrine  of  assurance,  &c.  But  on  having  recourse  to  Dr.  White- 
head,  who  inserts  a  part  of  this  letter,  I  adopt  his  reflections  on  it,  which 
are  full  in  point. 

"  This  letter  appears  to  me  full  of  fallacy.  To  give  one  instance  : — 
Mr.  John  Wesley  had  said,  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  was  the  common 
privilege  of  believers ;  that  he  considered  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  the 
love  of  God,  and  the  plerophory  of  faith,  as  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  with 
our  spirit  that  we  are  the  sons  of  God ;  that  the  whole  of  what  had  been 
said  on '  visions,  dreams,  and  balls  of  fire,'  could  not  in  his  opinion  either 
prove  or  disprove  the  point  in  question  between  them ;  that  is,  visions, 
dreams,  and  balls  of  fire,  were  totally  foreign  to  the  witness  of  the  Spirit 
for  which  he  was  contending.  But  his  brother  Samuel  changes  the 
term  witness,  and  substitutes  for  it  sensible  information  ;  by  which  he 
means  something  visible  to  the  sight,  or  existing  in  the  fancy  ;  and  then 
indeed  visions,  &c,  were  connected  with  the  question ;  and  he  reasons 
on  this  supposition.  But  this  was  a  mere  sophism,  of  which  Mr.  J. 
Wesley  would  probably  have  taken  notice  had  he  been  writing  to  a 
stranger,  or  had  he  foreseen  that  any  one  would  print  the  letters  after 
his  death." — The  doctor  refers  here  to  the  publication  of  the  original 
Letters  of  the  Wesley  Family,  by  Dr.  Priestly. 


SAMUEL   WESI.ET,  JUN.  269 

To  the  foregoing  letter  Mr.  J.  Wesley  replied  thus  : — 

"JVbt?.  30,  1738. 

" 1  believe  every  Christian  who  has  not  yet  received  it  should 

pray  for  the  witness  of  God's  Spirit  u-ilh  his  spirit  that  he  is  a  child  of 
God.  In  being  a  child  of  God,  the  pardon  of  his  sins  is  included ; 
therefore  I  believe  the  Spirit  of  God  will  witness  this  also.  That  this 
witness  is  from  God  the  very  terms  imply ;  and  this  witness  I  believe 
is  necessary  for  my  salvation.  How  far  invincible  ignorance  may 
excuse  others  I  know  not.  But  this  you  say  is  delusive  and  dangerous, 
because  it  encourages  and  abets  idle  visions  and  dreams.  It  encou- 
rages : — true;  accidentally  but  not  essentially.  And  that  it  does  this 
accidentally,  or  that  weak  minds  may  pervert  it  to  an  idle  use,  is  no 
objection  against  it ;  for  so  they  may  pervert  every  truth  in  the  oracles 
of  God  ;  more  especially  that  dangerous  doctrine  of  Joel,  cited  by  St. 
Peter,  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  1  will  pour  out 
of  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall 
prophesy,  and  your  young  men  shall  see  visions,  and  your  old  men  shall 
dream  dreams.  Such  visions  indeed  as  you  mention  are  given  up  ; — 
does  it  follow  that  visions  and  dreams  in  general  '  are  bad  branches  of 
a  bad  root  V  God  forbid.  This  would  prove  more  than  you  desire." 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  returns  once  more  with  objections  raised  on 
nearly  the  same  grounds  ;  changing  the  terms  of  the  question  in  debate, 
and  arguing  on  these  changes. 

"Dec.  13,  1738. 

"  DEAR  JACK, — You  own  abundantly  enough  to  clear  Mrs.  Hutton 
from  any  misrepresentations  as  to  you,  and  me  from  any  misunderstand- 
ing her.  I  was  but  too  right  in  my  judgment. 

»*  1.  You  was  not  a  Christian  before  JVfay  24  :  but  are  so  now,  in  a 
sense  of  the  word  you  call  obvious ;  which  was  so  far  from  it,  that  it 
astonished  all  who  heard  you  then,  and  which  I  deny  to  be  so  much 
as  true. 

"  2.  You  hold  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  a  clear  information  of  adop- 
tion, whereof  pardon  is  a  part,  to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  your  sal- 
vation, and  that  of  others,  unless  excused  by  invincible  ignorance. 
Enough  !  Enough  !  Yet, 

"  3.  You  apply  Joel  amazingly,  though  you  give  up  such  visions  as  I 
speak  of,  yet  not  allowing  me  to  call  such  4  bad  branches  of  a  bad  root.' 
That  I  may  not  be  guilty  of  putting  them  more  or  less  into  every  letter, 
I'll  discuss  that  matter  fully  by  itself,  once  for  all,  desiring  you  in  the 
mean  time  to  say,  what  other  Scripture  dreams  or  visions  you  would 
insist  on?  Whether  all  between  Genesis  and  the  Revelations?  I  am 
afraid  Ahab's  lying  spirits  may  be  too  pertinent. 

"  That  you  were  not  a  Christian  before  May  in  your  sense  any  one 
may  allow :  but  have  you  ever  since  continued  sinless  ?  Sin  has  not 
the  dominion.  Do  you  never  then/aW  ?  Or  do  you  mean  no  more  than 
that  you  are  free  from  presumptuous  sins  1  If  the  former,  I  deny  it ;  if 
the  latter,  who  disputes  ? 

"Your  misapplication  of  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  is  so  thoroughly 
cleared  by  Bishop  Bull,  that  1  shall  not  hold  a  candle  to  the  sun.  What 


270  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUN. 

portion  of  love,  joy,  &c,  God  may  be  pleased  to  bestow  on  Christians 
is  in  his  hand,  not  ours.  Those  texts  you  quote  no  more  prove  them 
generally  necessary,  in  what  you  call  your  imperfect  state,  than  '  Rejoice 
in  the  Lord  always'  contradicts  «  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn.1  There 
is  a  time  to  weep,  and  a  time  to  laugh,  till  that  day  comes  when  all  tears 
shall  be  wiped  from  our  eyes, — which  I  take  it  will  hardly  be  before 
death :  to  which  happiness  God  of  his  infinite  mercy,  through  Christ, 
bring  us  all ! 

"  We  join  in  love.  As  your  last  is  dated  from  Oxford,  I  write  thither, 
though  you  may  be  gone  by  this  time. 

"  I  am,  dear  Jack,  your  affectionate  and  sincere  friend  and  brother, 

"S.  WESLEY. 

"  I  had  much  more  to  say :  but  it  will  keep,  if  ever  it  should  be 
proper." 

This  letter  may  be  thought  proper  or  passable  between  brother  and 
brother :  but  it  is  inexcusable  in  a  logician,  and  completely  proves  that 
Mr.  Samuel  had  not  one  show  of  argument  farther  to  produce.  The 
Jirst  part  of  Mr.  J.  Wesley's  reply  is  lost ;  the  following  is  all  that 
remains  : — 

"  I  think  Bishop  Bull's  sermon  on  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  (against 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit  it  should  rather  be  entitled,)  is  full  of  gross 
perversions  of  Scripture,  and  manifest  contradictions  both  to  Scripture 
and  experience.  I  find  more  persons  day  by  day,  who  experience  a 
clear  evidence  of  their  being  in  a  state  of  salvation  :  but  I  never  said 
this  continues  equally  clear  in  all,  as  long  as  they  continue  in  a  state  of 
.salvation.  Some  indeed  have  testified,  and  the  whole  tenor  of  their 
life  made  their  testimony  unexceptionable,  that  from  that  hour  they  have 
felt  no  agonies  at  all,  no  anxious  fears,  no  sense  of  dereliction,  as  others 
have. 

"  But  much  I  fear  we  begin  our  dispute  at  the  wrong  end.  I  fear  you 
dissent  from  the  fundamental  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England.  I 
know  Bishop  Bull  does.  I  doubt  you  do  not  hold  justification  by  faith 
alone  :  if  not,  then  neither  do  you  hold  what  our  Articles  teach  concern- 
ing the  extent  and  the  guilt  of  original  sin,  neither  do  you/ee/  yourself 
a  lost  sinner;  and  if  we  begin  not  here,  we  are  building  on  the  sand. 
O  may  the  God  of  love,  if  my  sister  or  you  are  otherwise  minded, 
reveal  even  this  unto  you  !" 

Item  acu  tetigit.  This  was  most  undoubtedly  the  state  and  feeling 
of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  at  this  time.  That  he  came  to  a  better  state  of 
mind  at  last  his  brother  fully  believed. 

The  next  year's  correspondence  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Tiverlon,  March  29,  1738-9. 

"  DEAR  JACK, — I  might  as  well  have  wrote  immediately  after  your 
last  as  now,  for  any  new  information  I  expected  from  my  mother ;  I 
might  as  well  have  let  it  alone  at  present,  for  any  effect  it  will  have, 
farther  than  showing  you  I  neither  despise  you  on  the  one  hand,  nor 
am  angry  with  you  on  the  other. 

"  I  am  hardly  persuaded  you  will  see  me  face  to  face  in  this  world, 
though  somewhat  nearer  than  Count  Zinzendorf.  Charles  has  at  last 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  271 

told  me  in  terms,  he  believes  no  more  of  dreams  or  visions  than  I  do. 
Had  you  said  so,  I  believe  I  should  have  hardly  spent  any  time  upon 
them  ;  though  I  find  others  credit  them,  whatever  you  may  do. 

"  You  make  two  degrees  or  kinds  of  assurance.  That  neither  of  them 
is  necessary  to  a  state  of  salvation  I  prove  thus  : — 

44 1.  Because  multitudes  are' saved  without  either.  These  are  of 
three  sorts  : — 1.  All  infants  baptized,  who  die  before  actual  sin.  2.  All 
persons  of  a  melancholy  and  gloomy  constitution  ;  who  without  a  mira- 
cle, cannot  be  changed.  3.  All  penitents  [backsliders  ?]  who  live  a 
good  life  after  their  recovery,  and  yet  never  attain  to  their  first  state. 

44  2.  The  lowest  assurance  is  an  impression  from  God,  who  is 
infallible,  that  heaven  shall  be  actually  enjoyed  by  the  person  to  whom 
it  is  made.  How  is  this  consistent  with  fears  of  miscarriage  ;  with 
deep  sorrow,  and  going  on  the  way  weeping]  How  can  any  doubt 
after  such  certificate  ?  If  they  can,  then  there  is  an  assurance  whereby 
the  person  who  has  it  is  not  sure. 

44  3.  If  this  be  essential  to  a  state  of  salvation,  it  is  utterly  impos- 
sible any  should  fall  from  that  state  finally  ;  since,  how  can  any  thing 
be  more  fixed  than  what  Truth  and  Power  has  said  he  will  perform  ? 
Unless  you  will  say  of  the  matter  here  as  I  observed  of  the  person,  that 
there  may  be  assurance  wherein  the  thing  itself  is  not  certain. 
44 1  am  your  affectionate  friend  and  brother, 

44  S.  WESLEY." 

The  reader  will  observe,  that  in  this  letter  Mr.  S.  Wesley  confounds 
the  assurance  of  being  now  in  the  favour  of  God  with  that  of  being 
infallibly  and  eternally  saved  !  The  latter  doctrine  Mr.  J.  Wesley 
never  taught. 

The  following  is  Mr.  J.  Wesley's  reply  : — 

44  Bristol,  April  4,  1738-9. 

44 DEAR  BROTHER, — I  greatly  rejoice  at  the  temper  with  which  you 
now  write  ;  and  trust  there  is  not  only  mildness,  but  love  also,  in  your 
heart :  if  so,  you  shall  know  of  this  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God, 
though  perhaps  not  by  my  ministry. 

44  To  this  hour  you  have  pursued  an  ignoratio  elenchi.  Your  as- 
surance and  mine  are  as  different  as  light  and  darkness.  I  mean  an 
assurance  that  I  am  now  in  a  state  of  salvation  :  you  an  assurance 
that  I  shall  persevere  therein.  The  very  definition  of  the  term  cuts  off 
your  second  and  third  observation.  As  to  the  first  I  would  take 
notice, — 

44  1.  No  kind  of  assurance,  (that  I  know,)  or  of  faith,  or  of  repent- 
ance, is  essential  to  their  salvation  who  die  infants. 

44  2.  I  believe  God  is  ready  to  give  all  true  penitents  who  fly  to  his 
free  grace  in  Christ  a  fuller  sense  of  pardon  than  they  had  before  they 
fell.  I  know  this  to  be  true  of  several  :  whether  there  are  exempt 
cases  I  know  not. 

«4  3.  Persons  that  were  of  a  melancholy  and  gloomy  constitution, 
even  to  some  degree  of  madness,  I  have  known  in  a  moment,  (let  it 
be  called  a  miracle,  I  quarrel  not,)  brought  into  a  state  of  firm,  lasting 
peace  and  joy. 


272  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

"  My  dear  brother,  the  whole  question  turns  chiefly,  if  not  wholly, 
on  matter  of  fact.  You  deny  that  God  does  now  work  these  effects  ; 
at  least,  that  he  works  them  in  such  a  manner.  I  affirm  both  ;  because 
I  have  heard  those  facts  with  my  ears,  and  seen  them  with  my  eyes. 
I  have  seen  (as  far  as  it  can  be  seen,)  many  persons'  changed  in  a  mo- 
ment from  the  spirit  of  horror,  fear,  and  despair,  to  the  spirit  of  hope,  joy, 
and  peace  ;  and  from  sinful  desires,  till  then  reigning  over  them,  to  a 
pure  desire  of  doing  the  will  of  God.  These  are  matters  of  fact 
whereof  I  have  been,  and  almost  daily  am,  eye  or  ear  witness. 

"  What  (upon  the  same  evidence  as  to  the  suddenness  and  reality 
of  the  change,)  I  believe,  or  know,  touching  visions  or  dreams.  This 
I  know  :  several  persons  in  whom  this  great  change  from  the  power 
•of  Satan  unto  God  was  wrought  either  in  sleep,  or  during  a  strong 
representation  to  the  eye  of  their  minds  of  Christ,  either  on  the  cross, 
or  in  glory.  This  is  the  fact :  let  any  judge  of  it  as  they  please.  But 
that  such  a  change  was  then  wrought  appears  (not  from  their  shedding 
tears  only,  or  sighing  or  singing  psalms,  as  your  poor  correspondent 
did  by  the  woman  at  Oxford,  but)  from  the  whole  tenor  of  their  life,  till 
then  many  ways  wicked  ;  from  that  time  holy,  just,  and  good.  Saw 
you  him  who  was  a  lion  till  then,  and  is  now  a  lamb  ; — he  that  was  a 
drunkard,  but  now  exemplarily  sober ; — the  whoremonger  that  was, 
who  abhors  the  very  lusts  of  the  flesh  ?  These  are  my  living  argu- 
ments for  what  I  assert,  that  God  now  as  aforetime,  gives  remission  of 
sins  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  may  be  called  visions : — if 
it  be  not  so,  I  am  found  a  false  witness.  But,  however,  I  do  and  will 
testify  the  things  I  have  both  seen  and  heard. 

"  I  do  not  now  expect  to  see  your  face  in  the  flesh :  not  that  I  be- 
lieve God  will  discharge  you  yet,  but  I  believe  I  have  nearly  finished 
my  course.*  0  may  I  be  found  in  him,  not  having  my  own  righteous- 
ness ! 

"  When  I  thy  promised  Christ  have  seen, 

And  clasp'd  him  in  iny  soul's  embrace  ; 

Possess'd  of  thy  salvation, — then, — 

Then  may  I,  Lord,  depart  in  peace  ! 

The  great  blessing  of  God  be  upon  you  and  yours.     I  am,  dear  bro- 
ther, your  ever  affectionate  and  obliged  brother, 

"  JOHN  WESLEY. 

"  P.  S.  I  expect  to  stay  here  some  time  ;  perhaps  as  long  as  I  am 
in  the  body." 

*  Under  this  mark  Dr.  Priestly  has  the  following  note, — "How  greatly  was  Mr. 
Wesley  mistaken  in  this  his  full  persuasion,  when  he  lived  fifty  years  after  this." 
This  very  note  is  introduced  designedly  to  discredit  Mr.  Wesley's  doctrine  of  as- 
surance- :  but  the  reflection  is  unfair  and  false.  Mr.  Wesley  does  not  say,  nor 'inti- 
mate, that  he  had  a  full  persuasion  that  he  had  nearly  finished  his  course.  He  says 
simply,  "I  do  not  expect  to  see  your  face  in  the  flesh — I  believe  I  have  nearly  finished 
my  course  ;" — and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  letter, — "  I  expect  to  stay  here  some  time  ; 
perhaps  as  long  as  I  am  in  the  body."  Now,  do  these  hypothetic  terms — expect — 
believe — perhaps, — amount  to  a  full  per 'suasion  that  he  should  shortly  die  ?  I  trow  not. 
But  he  had  reason  to  suppose  and  believe,  from  the  then  state  of  his  health,  that  death 
was  at  the  door. 

And  with  respect  to  the  continuance  of  human  life  every  thing  is  problematical.  In 
the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death. 

See  the  conclusion  of  his  next  letter, — May  10, 1739. 


SAMUEL  WE8LET,  JUN.  273 

This  letter  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  answered  thus  : — 

"  April  16,  1739. 

"  DEAR  JACK, — I  heartily  pray  God  that  we  may  meet  each  other 
with  joy  in  the  next  life  ;  and  beg  him  to  forgive  either  of  us,  as  far  as 
guilty,  for  our  not  meeting  in  this.  I  acknowledge  his  justice  in 
making  my  friends  stand  atar  off,  and  hiding  my  acquaintance  out  of 
my  sight. 

"  I  find  brevity  has  made  me  obscure.  I  argue  against  assurance 
in  your  or  any  sense  as  part  of  the  Gospel  covenant,  "because  many  are 
saved  without  it.  You  own  you  cannot  deny  exempt  cases,  which  is 
giving  up  the  dispute.  Your  assurance  being  a  clear  impression  of  God 
upon  the  soul  I  say  must  be  perpetual,  must  be  irreversible ;  else  it  is 
not  assurance  from  God,  infallible  and  omnipotent. 

"  You  say  the  cross  is  strongly  represented  to  the  eye  of  the  mind. 
Do  these  words  signify  in  plain  English  the  fancy  ?  Inward  eyes,  ears, 
and  feelings,  are  nothing  to  other  people.  I  am  heartily  sorry  such 
alloy  should  be  found  among  so  much  piety." 

In  the  above  letter  Mr.  S.  Wesley  lays  down  premises  of  his  own, 
which  he  attributes  to  his  brother ;  and  which  his  brother  never  pro- 
posed nor  maintained.  And,  strange  to  tell,  from  these  assumed  pre- 
mises, he  draws  conclusions  which  they  will  not  support !  A  clear 
impression  of  God  upon  the  soul  must  be  irreversible  :  because  God  is 
infallible  and  omnipotent !  Was  there  ever  such  reasoning  ?  He  might 
as  well  have  maintained,  that  the  Divine  image  in  the  soul  of  man 
was,  in  his  creation,  a  char  and  full  impression  of  God  : — therefore  it 
was  perpetual  and  irreversible.  Consequently  Adam  never  fell,  and 
the  history  of  that  event  is  a  fable  !  0,  how  prejudice  and  religious 
bigotry  blind  the  mind,  and  pervert  the  heart!  Mr.  Samuel  pro- 
ceeds : — 

"  The  little  reflection  on  my  poor  correspondent  at  Oxford  is  quite 
groundless.  I  do  not  remember  he  says  singing  (adding  rolling,  &c) 
was  the  only  sign  of  her  new  birth ;  it  is  brought  as  a  fruit  of  it. 
May  we  not  know  the  tree  by  the  fruit  ?  Such  visions  I  think  may 
fairly  be  concluded  fallacious,  only  for  being  attended  with  so  ridiculous 
an  effect. 

"  My  mother  tells  me  she  fears  a  formal  schism  is  already  begun 
among  you,  though  you  and  Charles  are  ignorant  of  it.  For 'God's 
sake  take  care  of  that ;  and  banish  extemporary  expositions  and 
extemporary  prayers. 

"  I  have  got  your  abridgment  of  Haliburlon,  and  have  sent  for 
Watt*.  If  it  please  God  to  allow  me  life  and  strength,  I  shall  by  his 
help  demonstrate  that  the  Scot  as  little  deserves  preference  to  all 
Christians  but  our  Saviour,  as  the  book  all  writings  but  those  you  men- 
tion. There  are  two  flagrant  falsehoods  in  the  very  first  chapter.  But 
your  eyes  are  so  fixed  upon  one  point,  that  you  overlook  every  thing 
else.  You  overshoot :  but  Whitejicld  raves. 

"  I  entreat  you  to  let  me  know  what  reasons  you  have  to  think  you 
shail  not  live  long.  I  received  yours  dated  the  4th,  on  Sunday  14.  The 

35 


274  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

post  will  reach  me  much  sooner,  and  I  shall  want  much  to  know  what 
ails  you.  I  should  be  very  angry  with  you  if  you  cared  for  it,  should 
you  have  broken  your  iron  constitution  already ;  as  I  was  with  the 
glorious  Paschal  for  losing  his  health,  and  living  almost  twenty  years  in 
pain. 

"  Dear  Jack,  your  sincere  and  affectionate  friend  and  brother, 

"  S.  WESLEY." 

In  answer  to  Mr.  Samuel's  argument,  or  rather  assertion,  that  the 
assurance  in  question  made  no  part  of  the  Gospel  covenant,  Mr.  John 
Wesley  says  : — 

"  Bristol,  May  10,  1739. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER, — The  having  abundance  of  work  upon  my  hands 
is  only  a  cause  of  my  not  writing  sooner.  THE  cause  was  rather  my 
unwillingness  to  continue  an  unprofitable  dispute. 

"  The  Gospel  promises  to  you,  and  to  me,  and  to  our  children,  and 
to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  of  those  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall 
call,  as  are  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  the  witness  of  God's 
Spirit  with  their  spirit  that  they  are  the  children  of  God  ;  that  they  are 
now  at  this  hour  all  accepted  in  the  Beloved  :  but  it  witnesses  not  that 
they  always  shall  be.  It  is  an  assurance  of  present  salvation  only ; 
therefore  not  necessarily  perpetual,  neither  irreversible. 

"  I  am  one  of  many  witnesses  of  this  matter  of  fact,  that  God  does 
now  make  good  this  his  promise  daily,  very  frequently  during  a  repre- 
sentation (how  made  I  know  not,  but  not  to  the  outward  eye)  of  Christ, 
either  hanging  on  the  cross,  or  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God. 
This  I  know  to  be  of  God  because  from  that  hour,  the  person  so  affected 
is  a  new  creature  ;  both  as  to  his  inward  tempers,  and  outward  life. 
'  Old  things  are  passed  away,  and  all  things  become  new.' 

"  A  very  late  instance  of  this  I  will  give  you.  While  we  were  praying 
at  a  society  here  on  Tuesday  the  first  instant,  the  power  of  God  (so  I 
call  it)  came  so  mightily  among  us,  that  one,  and  another,  and  another, 
fell  down  as  thunderstruck.  In  that  hour,  many  that  were  in  deep 
anguish  of  spirit  were  all  filled  with  peace  and  joy.  Ten  persons,  till 
then  in  sin,  doubt,  and  fear,  found  such  a  change  that  sin  had  no  more 
dominion  over  them :  and  instead  of  the  spirit  of  fear,  they  are  now 
filled  with  that  of  love,  and  joy,  and  a  sound  mind.  A  Quaker  that 
stood  by  was  very  angry  at  them  ;  and  was  biting  his  lips,  and  knitting 
his  brows,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  him  also,  so  that  he  fell 
down  as  one  dead.  We  prayed  over  him,  and  he  soon  lifted  up  his 
head  with  joy,  and  joined  with  us  in  thanksgiving. 

"  A  byestander,  one  John  Haydon,  was  quite  enraged  at  this ;  and 
being  unable  to  deny  something  supernatural  in  it,  laboured  beyond 
measure  to  convince  all  his  acquaintance  that  it  was  a  delusion  of  the 
devil.  I  was  met  in  the  street  next  day  by  one  who  informed  me  that 
John  Haydon  was  fallen  raving  mad.  It  seems  he  had  sat  down  tc 
dinner,  but  wanted  first  to  make  an  end  of  a  sermon  he  was  reading. 
At  the  last  page  he  suddenly  changed  colour ;  fell  off  his  chair  ;  and 
began  screaming  terribly,  and  beating  himself  against  the  ground.  I 
found  him  on  the  floor,  the  room  being  full  of  people,  whom  his  wife 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUN.  275 

would  have  kept  away :  but  he  cried  out,  '  No !  let  them  all  come ;  let 
all  the  world  see  the  just  judgment  of  God.'  Two  or  three  were  hold- 
ing him  as  well  as  they  could.  He  immediately  fixed  his  eyes  on  me, 
and  said,  *  Aye,  this  is  he  I  said  deceived  the  people :  but  God  hath 
overtaken  me.  I  said  it  was  a  delusion  of  the  devil ;  this  is  no  delu- 
sion !'  Then  he  roared  aloud,  '  O  thou  devil ;  thou  cursed  devil !  yea, 
thou  legion  of  devils !  thou  canst  not  stay  in  me.  Christ  will  cast  thee 
out ;  I  know  his  work  is  begun.  Tear  me  to  pieces  if  thou  wilt :  but 
thou  canst  not  hurt  me.' 

"  He  then  beat  himself  again;  and  groaning  again  with  violent  sweats, 
and  heaving  of  the  breast,  we  prayed  with  him,  and  God  put  a  new  song 
in  his  mouth.  The  words  were,  which  he  pronounced  with  a  clear 
strong  voice, — This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our 
eyes.  This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made ;  we  will  rejoice  and 
be  glad  in  it.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  from  this  time  forth 
for  evermore.  I  called  again  an  hour  after.  We  found  his  body  quite 
worn  out,  and  his  voice  lost:  but  his  soul  was  full  of  joy  and  love, 
rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God. 

"  I  am  now  in  as  good  health  (thanks  be  to  God)  as  I  ever  was  since 
I  remember,  and  I  believe  shall  be  so  as  long  as  I  live,  for  I  do  not 
expect  to  have  a  lingering  death.  The  reasons  that  induce  me  to  think 
I  shall  not  live  to  be  old  are  such  as  you  would  not  apprehend  to  be  of 
any  weight.  I  am  under  no  concern  on  this  head  :  let  my  Master  see 
to  it  O  may  the  God  of  love  be  with  you  and  my  sister  more  and 
more  ! 

"  Dear  brother,  your  ever  affectionate  brother, 

"JoHN  "WESLEY." 

About  two  months  before  his  death  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  wrote  the 
following  letter,  which  was  probably  the  last  he  wrote  on  the  subject ; 
and  appears  to  be  an  answer  to  the  foregoing : — 

"  Tiverton,  Sept.  3,  1739. 

"  DEAR  JACK, — It  has  pleased  God  to  visit  me  with  sickness,  else  I 
should  not  have  been  so  backward  in  writing.     Pray  to  him  for  us, 
'  that  he  would  give  us  patience  under  our  sufferings,  and  a  happy      » 
issue  out  of  all  our  afflictions  ;  granting  us  in  this  world  knowledge  of 
his  truth,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlasting.' 

"  It  is  good  news  that  you  have  built  a  charity  school,  and  better  still 
that  you  have  got  a  second  almost  up,  as  I  find  by  yours,  that  Mr. 
Wigginton  brought  me.-  I  wish  you  could  build  not  only  a  school,  but 
a  church  too,  for  the  colliers,  if  there  is  not  any  place  at  present  for 
worship  where  they  can  meet ;  and  I  should  heartily  rejoice  to  have  it 
endowed,  though  Mr.  Whitefield  were  to  be  the  minister  of  it,  provided 
the  bishop  fully  joined. 

-^"Your  distinction  between  the  discipline  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  is,  I  think,  not  quite  pertinent ;  for  surely  episcopacy  is  a  mat- 
ter of  doctrine  too :  but  granting  it  otherwise,  you  know^there  is  no  fear 
of  being  cast  out  of  our  synagogue  for  any  tenets  whatsoever.  Did  not 
Clarke  die  preferred  ?  Were  not  Collins  and  Coward  free  from  ana- 


276  «A>IUEL   WESI.EV,  JUN. 

thema  ?  Are  not  Chubb  and  Gordon  now  caressed  ?  My  knowledge 
of  this  makes  me  suspect  Whitefield,  as  if  he  designed  to  provoke  per- 
secution by  his  bodings  of  it.  He  has  already  personally  disobliged 
the  bishops  of  Gloucester  and  London ;  and  doubtless  will  do  as  much 
by  all  the  rest,  if  they  fall  not  down  before  his  whimsies,  and  should 
offer  to  stand  in  his  way.  Now  if  he  by  his  madness  should  lay  him- 
self open  to  the  small  remains  of  discipline  among  us,  as  by  marrying 
without  license,  or  any  other  way,  and  get  excommunicated  for  his 
pains,  I  am  very  apprehensive  you  would  still  stick  to  him  as  your  dear 
brother;  and  so,  though  the  Church  would  not  excommunicate  you, 
you  would  excommunicate  the  Church.  Then  I  suppose  you  would 
enlarge  your  censure,  which  now  takes  in  most  of  the  inferior  clergy. 
But  you  have  taught  me  to  have  the  worse  opinion  of  no  man  upon  that 
account,  till  you  have  proved  your  charge  against  Bishop  Bull.  At 
present,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  that  being  blamed  with  him  is  glory. 

"  You  yourself  doubted  at  first,  and  inquired  and  examined  about  the 
ecstacies :  the  matter  therefore  is  not  so  plain  as  motion  to  a  man 
walking.  But  I  have  my  own  reason,  as  well  as  your  authority,  against 
the  exceeding  clearness  of  Divine  interposition  there.  Your  followers 
fall  into  agonies.  I  confess  it.  They  are  freed  from  them  after  you 
have  prayed  over  them ; — granted.  They  say  it  is  God's  doing.  I 
own  they  say  so.  Dear  brother,  where  is  your  ocular  demonstration  ? 
Where  iadeed  is  the  rational  proof  ?  Their  living  well  afterward,  may 
be  a  probable  and  sufficient  argument  that  they  believe  themselves. 
But  it  goes  no  farther.  I  must  ask  a  few  more  questions.  Did  these 
agitations  ever  begin  during  the  use  of  any  collects  of  the  Church  ?  or 
during  the  preaching  of  any  sermon  that  had  been  preached  within  con- 
secrated walls  without  that  effect,  or  during  the  inculcating  any  other  doc- 
trine beside  that  of  your  new  birth  ?  Are  the  main  body  of  these  agents 
or  patients  good  sort  of  people  beforehand,  or  loose  and  immoral? 

"  My  wife  joins  in  love  to  you  and  Charles,  if  he  is  with  you,  or 
indeed  wherever  he  is  ;  for  you  know  best  his  motions,  and  he  is  likely 
to  hear  from  you  before  me.  Phill  is  very  well ;  my  wife  indifferent ; 
and  I  am  on  the  mending  hand  in  spite  of  foul  weather. 

•"  I  am.  dear  Jack,  your  sincere  and  affectionate  friend  and  brother, 

"  SAMUEL  WESLEY." 

The  tone  of  this  letter  is  greatly  altered  from  that  of  most  of  the 
preceding.  He  no  longer  disputes  against  the  doctrine  of  assurance  ; 
but  the  agitations  he  cannot  conceive  to  be  a  work,  or  effect  of  the 
working,  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  Mr.  J.  Wesley  did  not  consider  them 
as  such  :  but  simply  asserted  the  fact,  that  many  thus  seized  were  deli- 
vered from  them  at  the  earnest  prayers  of  believers,  and  at  the  same 
time  received  a  sense  of  their  acceptance  with  God  ;  and  this  last  was 
proved  to  be  his  work  by  the  subsequent  holiness  of  their  lives. 

The  question, — Did  any  of  these  agitations  take  place  while  any  of 
the  collects  of  the  Church  were  read? — might  be  answered  by  an^- 
other, — Was  Paul  reading  a  rational  dissertation  on  righteousness, 
temperance,  and  a  judgment  to  come,  when  Felix  trembled  ?  Acts  xxiv, 
25.  One  of  our  artists,  who  attempted  to  paint  this  scene,  did  repre- 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JfV.  277 

sent  Paul  reading  out  of  a  book  to  Felix :  but,  on  being  asked  the 
question, — Was  it  likely  that  Paul  read  before  Felix  1  and  if  so,  was 
it  likely  that  he  trembled  at  that  reading  ? — was  in  a  moment  convinced 
of  the  absurdity,  struck  the  book  out  of  the  apostle's  huntls,  and  directed 
both  them  and  his  eyes  to  the  Roman  governor. 

The  collects  are  for  the  worship  of  tht  Church,  the  people  of  God, 
who  come  to  perform  their  devotions  to  their  God  and  Father ;  they 
were  never  designed  to  be  instruments  of  awakening  the  profligate. 
That  belongs  to  suitable  discourses  delivered  from  the  pulpit.  It  re- 
quires strong  and  forcible  addresses,  varied  and  suited  according  to 
circumstances  and  occasions,  to  arrest  and  awaken  the  careless,  and 
to  cause  them  to  turn  their  eyes  in  upon  their  hearts,  and  consider  their 
ways.  It  was  a  very  silly  objection  which  Mr.  Samuel  made  in  a  letter 
to  his  mother,  against  the  field  preaching  of  his  two  brothers  and  Mr. 
fVhitefield.  "They  leave  off  (says  he)  the  liturgy  in  the  jields. 
Though  Mr.  Whitefield  expresses  his  value  for  it,  he  never  once  read 
it  to  his  tatterdemalions  on  a  common.''  If  he  had,  who  would  have 
attended  to  him  or  it? — a  thing  wrhich  they  could  hear  in  any  church, 
or  read  themselves  on  their  return  home  !  No,  it  was  the  novelty  of  the 
thing  that  induced  them  to  attend.  They  saw  a  man  in  the  garb  and 
attitude  of  a  minister  standing  on  the  common,  on  the  highways,  or  by 
the  hedges  ; — and  they  ran  together  to  hear  what  he  had  got  to  say,  and 
he  preached  unto  thtm  Jesus,  and  in  such  a  Scripture  way  as  was  then 
heard  in  few  churches  in  the  land.  Thus  they  were  awakened  and 
converted  to  God.  "  Upon  a  review  (says  Dr.  Whitehead)  of  the 
•whole  of  this  controversy,  we  may  safely  pronounce  that  the  doctrine 
of  assurance  is  in  no  respect  invalidated  or  rendered  doubtful  by  any 
thing  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  has  said  against  it." 

On  the  contrary  we  may  assert,  that  it  shines  more  illustrious  ;  and 
that  the  very  circumstance  of  such  a  very  wise,  learned,  and  able  logi- 
cian as  Mr.  Samuel  not  having  been  able  to  bring  one  argument  of  any 
weight  against  it,  though  he  availed  himself,  in  the  straits  to  which  his 
brother  had  reduced  him,  of  sophisms  to  support  him,  is  a  strong  proof 
that  it  is  founded  on  the  sacred  Scriptures,  necessarily  belongs  to  the 
new  covenant,  and  that  there  is  neither  divination  nor  enchantment 
against  it.  As  to  field  preaching,  the  vast  and  wondrous  moral  change 
that  was  made  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  superlative  sinners  of 
Kingswood,  to  which  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  in  the  letter  above  turns  his 
attention  with  delight,  was  produced  under  God  by  out-of-door  preach- 
ing. And  yet,  with  all  this  evidence  before  his  eyes,  so  bigoted  was 
he  to  forms,  and  ecclesiastical  order,  that  he  says  in  the  above  letter  to 
his  mother,  that  he  "  would  rather  have  his  brothers  picking  straws 
within  the  walls  of  the  university,  than  preaching  in  the  area  of  Moor- 
fields."  Had  they  been  of  his  mind,  how  many  thousands  of  souls  must 
in  all  likelihood  have  perished,  to  whom  that  kind  of  preaching  became 
the  means  of  salvation  ;  and  who  are  now  exulting  in  the  glory  of  God, 
because  his  faithful  servants  went  out  to  the  highways,and  to  the  hedges, 
and  compelled  them  to  come  in,  that  his  house  might  be  filled  ! 

For  other  matters  relative  to  what  was  called  J\Ir.  Weslttf*  doctrine 
of  assurance ;  (or  in  other  and  better  words,  his  strongly  insisting  on, 


278  8AMUEL   WESLET,  JUN. 

and  applying  to  suitable  subjects,  this  apostolic  doctrine,  "  God  sent 
forth  his  Son  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law,  that  we  might 
receive  the  adoption  of  sons  :  and  because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent 
forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father!") 
see  several  observations  in  the  close  of  the  memoir  of  Mrs.  Susanna 
Wesley. 

We  find  from  Mr.  SamueJ  Wesley's  letter  of  Sept.  3,  1739,  that  he 
had  been  visited  with  sickness ;  from  which  I  believe  he  did  not  fully 
recover,  though  he  then  fancied  himself  "  on  the  mending  hand."  But 
the  event  showed  that  he  was  then  on  the  confines  of  the  grave.  Ac- 
cording to  the  statement  of  a.  friend,  who  wrote  the  short  memoir  pre- 
fixed to  the  12mo  edition  of  his  poems,  "continual  application  to  various 
business,  and  an  intense  pursuit  at  the  same  time  of  his  studies,  had 
well  nigh  worn  him  out  by  the  time  he  had  reached  little  more  than 
half  the  age  of  man;  so  that  being  advised  to  retire,  for  air  and  gentle 
exercise,  to  recruit  his  constitution,  he  was  easily  prevailed  upon  to 
accept  a  country  school  in  the  west  of  England,  where  he  soon  fell  into 
a  lingering  illness,  which  in  a  few  years  brought  him  to  his  end." 

Dr.  Whitehead  observes,  "  Mr.  Wesley  had  a  bad  state  of  health 
some  time  before  he  left  Westminster,  and  his  removal  to  Tiverton  did 
not  much  mend  it.  On  the  night  of  the  5th  of  November,  1739,  he 
went  to  bed  seemingly  as  well  as  usual,  was  taken  ill  about  three  in  the 
morning,  and  died  at  seven,  after  about  four  hours'  illness." 

The  following  letter  from  a  particular  friend,  Mr.  Jlmos  JVLattheivs,  to 
Mr.  Charles  Wesley,  states  the  circumstances  more  explicitly : — 

"  Tiverton,  JYor.  14,  1739. 

"  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, — Your  brother,  and  my  dear  friend,  (for  so 
you  are  sensible  he  was  to  me,)  on  Monday  the  5th  of  November, 
went  to  bed,  as  he  thought,  as  well  as  he  had  been  for  some  time  before. 
He  was  seized  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  very  ill,  when  your 
sister  immediately  sent  for  Mr.  Norman,  and  ordered  the  servant  to 
call  we.  Mr.  Norman  came  as  quick  as  he  possibly  could  :  but  said, 
as  soon  as  he  saw  him,  that  he  could  not  get  over  it,  but  would  die  in 
a  few  hours.  He  was  not  able  to  take  any  thing,  nor  to  speak  to  us  ; 
only  yes  or  no  to  a  question  asked  him  ;  and  that  did  not  last  half  an 
hour.  I  never  went  from  his  bedside  till  he  expired,  which  was  about 
seven  the  same  morning.  With  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  we  persuaded 
your  dear  sister  to  leave  the  room  before  he  died.  I  trembled  to  think 
how  she  would  bear  it,  knowing  the  sincere  affection  and  love  she  had 
for  him.  But,  blessed  be  God,  he  hath  heard  and  answered  prayer  on 
her  behalf;  and  in  a  great  measure  calmed  her  spirit,  though  she  has 
not  yet  been  out  of  her  chamber.  Your  brother  was  buried  on  Monday 
last,  in  the  afternoon  ;  and  is  gone  to  reap  the  fruit  of  his  labours.  I 
pray  God  we  may  imitate  him  in  all  his  virtues,  and  be  prepared  to  fol- 
low. I  should  enlarge  much  more,  but  have  not  time  ;  for  which  reason 
I  hope  you  will  excuse  him,  who  is  under  the  greatest  obligations  to 
be,  and  really  is,'with  the  greatest  sincerity,  yours  in  all  things, 

"AMos  MATTHEWS." 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUW.  279 

On  receiving  this  intelligence  Mr.  John  and  Charles  Wesley  set  off 
to  visit  and  comfort  their  widowed  sister  at  Tiverton,  which  they  reached 
on  the  21st ;  and  under  this  date  Mr.  J.  Wesley  makes  the  following 
entry  in  his  Journal : — 

"  On  Wednesday,  21st,  (Nov.  1739,)  in  the  afternoon,  we  came  to 
Tiverton.  My  poor  sister  was  sorrowing  almost  as  one  without  hope. 
Yet  we  could  not  but  rejoice  at  hearing,  from  one  who  had  attended  my 
brother  in  all  his  weakness,  that  several  days  before  he  went  hence  God 
had  given  him  a  calm  and  full  assurance  of  his  interest  in  Christ.  O 
may  every  one  who  opposes  it  be  thus  convinced  that  this  doctrine  is 
of  God!" 

Pray  what  does  this  imply?  An  earnest  desire  that  the  God  of  all 
grace  may  convince  all  opposers  of  this  doctrine,  that  it  is  of  God  ;  by 
giving  them  before  they  go  hence  a  calm  and  full  assurance  of  their 
interest  in  Christ.  Can  any  wish  be  more  humane,  more  charitable,  or 
more  merciful  ?  But  how  has  this  entry  been  treated  by  a  late  biogra- 
pher of  Mr.  Wesley? — I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  mention  Mr.  Robert 
Southey,  with  any  thing  that  seems  like  disrespect.  But  on  this  subject 
he  has  been  illiberal ;  and  I  think  I  can  set  him  right.  "  Wesley  (says 
he)  cannot  be  suspected  of  intentional  deceit :  yet  who  is  there  who, 
upon  reading  this  passage,  would  suppose  that  Samuel  had  died  after 
an  illness  of  four  hours  ?  Well  might  he  protest  against  the  apprehen- 
sion or  the  charity  of  those  who  were  so  eager  to  hold  him  up  to  the 
world  as  their  convert." 

None  of  his  brothers,  nor  of  the  Methodists  of  that  time,  ever  was 
eager  to  hold  up  Mr.  Samuel  ,  esley  as  their  convert.  His  brothers 
laboured  to  bring  him  from  the  errors  under  which  he  lay ;  and  most 
certainly  there  were  articles  in  his  creed  that  were  neither  in  his  Church 
nor  in  his  Bible,  as  the  preceding  letters  prove.  That  he  ceased  his 
opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  without  which 
religion  is  little  better  than  a  shadow,  is  evident  from  his  letter  of  Sept.  3, 
which  was  two  months  before  he  died.  That  Mr.  Wesley  does  not 
even  insinuate  that  he  received  a  calm  and  full  assurance  of  his  interest 
in  Christ  in  his  last  four  hours  is  most  evident.  He  says,  it  was  seve- 
ral days  before  he  went  hence ;  and  he  says  this,  on  the  authority  of  one 
who  had  attended  him  in  all  his  weakness, — and  he  had  weakness  for  seve- 
ral years  as  we  have  seen  :  but  he  was  particularly  weak  and  afflicted 
some  months  before  he  died  ;  and  surely  several  days  before  he  died, 
when  his  particular  weakness  must  have  led  him  to  conclude  that  death 
might  be  at  the  door,  was  ample  time  for  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus  to  be  manifested  to  his  soul,  that  he  might  not  die  in  the  dark. 
May  we  not  retort,  and  say,  "  Southey  cannot  be  suspected  of  inten- 
tional deceit ;  yet  who  is  there  who,  upon  reading  this  passage,  would 
not  suppose  that  Mr.  J.  Wesley  states,  that  his  brother  Samuel  got  a 
calm  and  full  assurance  of  his  interest  in  Christ  in  the  last  four  hours 
of  his  life?"  "  But  he  died  (says  Mr.  Southey)  in  that  essential  faith 
which  has  been  common  to  all  Christians  in  all  ages."  I  believe  he 
did.  But  Mr.  Southey  seems  not  to  understand  the  distinction  between 
THE  FAITH, — that  is,  the  system  of  doctrines,  duties,  privileges,  &c, 
which  constitute  the  Christian  revelation ; — and  the  faith 


280  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

the.  ungodly.  He  who  does  not  know  this  distinction,  knows  little  of 
Christianity  for  his  own  personal  salvation.  Mr.  Southey  is  also  an 
opposer  of  the  doctrine  of  the  witness  of  the  Spirit.  So  essential  do  I 
think  this  to  Mr.  Southey's  salvation,  that  I  heartily  pray  to  God  that 
not  only  several  days,  but  several  years,  (for  I  wish  him  a  very  long 
life,)  before  he  goes  hence,  he  may  receive  from  God,  a  calm  and  full 
assurance  of  his  interest  in  Christ ;  and  be  thus  convinced  that  the  doc- 
trine is  of  God.  In  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  relative  to  Mr.  Wes- 
ley and  Methodism,  Mr.  Southey  has  spoken  against  what  he  does  not 
understand.  1  may  tell  him,  and  all  who  are  of  his  mind,  that  the  Me- 
thodists never  refer  to  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  as  a  proof  of  the  truth  of 
this  doctrine.  They  refer  to  no  man,  not  to  Mr.  John  Wesley  himself: 
they  appeal  to  none — they  appeal  to  the  Bible,  where  this  doctrine 
stands  as  inexpugnable  m  the  pillars  of  heaven.  Nor  do  they  need 
solitary  instances  as  facts,  to  prove  that  on  this  point  they  have  not 
mistaken-  the  Bible,  while  they,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  have  thousands 
of  testimonies  every  year  of  its  truth  :  and  they  know  it  to  be  the  com- 
mon birthright  of  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  God.  Without  it  the 
whole  life  of  faith  would  be  hypothetical.  And  if  a  man  have  not  the 
consolations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  a  Scriptural  and  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  his  own  interest  in  Christ,  and  of  his  title,  through  him,  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  the  Koran,  for  aught  he  knows,  may  be  as  true  as 
the  Bible.  No  man  can  inherit  unless  he  be  a  son ;  "  for  if  sons,  then 
heirs ;"  and  to  them  that  are  sons  "Goo  sends  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into 
their  hearts,  crying,  Jlbba,  Father."  These  are  the  true  sayings  of 
God,  and  all  his  people  know  them. 

Before  I  quit  that  collection  of  letters  published  by  Dr.  Priestley, 
where  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  opposition  to  his  brothers  is  principally 
recorded,  I  must  say  a  word  on  the  gratulatory  appeal  which  the  doctor 
makes  to  the  Methodists,  in  his  address  prefixed  to  those  letters. 

"  This  very  publication,"  says  he,  "  will  convince  you  that  you  who 
are  now  called  JWethodists  are  a  very  different  set  of  people,  and  nvich 
more  rational  than  those  who  were  first  distinguished  by  that  name." 
I  answer,  we  are  not  a  very  different  people,  nor  different  at  all,  either 
in  one  article  of  our  essential  doctrines,  or  in  one  tittle  of  our  Church 
discipline.  That  our  people  grow  wiser  and  better,  and  become  more 
useful,  we  acknowledge  with  gratitude  to  the  Author  of  every  good  and 
perfect  gift ;  and  this  is  naturally  to  be  expected  when  they  have  the 
advantages  of  a  pure  and  enlightened  ministry,  where  they  are  in  the 
constant  habit  of  hearing  that  Gospel  trumpet  which  emits  no  uncertain 
sounds.  The  doctor  goes  on  :  "  WTe  do  not  now  hear  of  those  sudden 
and  miraculous  conversions." — Whether  the  doctor  did  or  did  not  hear 
of  what  he  calls  sudden  and  miraculous  conversions,  WE,  thank  God,  do 
hear  of,  and  see  them  almost  daily  in  different  parts  of  our  connection  ; 
yea,  and  in  several  cases,  accompanied  with  what  he  calls  "  convul- 
sions, falling  down,"  &c,  though  we  do  not  think  that  these  circum- 
stances are  at  all  essential  to  the  thing,  for  we  find  in  numerous  cases 
the  instantaneous  work  effected  icithout  them.  They  are  neither  looked 
for,  sought  for,  nor  encouraged.  They  are  adventitious  circumstances  ; 
in  most  cases  of  their  occurrence  unavoidable,  for  the  very  reasons 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,   JUN.  261 

which  Mr.  J.  Wesley  gave  at  the  time  they  were  most  frequent,  under 
his  own  ministry.  "  For,"  says  he,  "  how  easy  is  it  to  suppose  that  a 
strong,  lively,  and  sudden  apprehension  of  the  heinousness  of  sin,  the 
wrath  of  God,  and  the  bitter  pains  of  eternal  death,  should  affect  the 
body  as  well  as  the  soul,  during  the  present  laws  of  vital  union ;  should 
interrupt  or  disturb  the  ordinary  circulations,  and  put  nature  out  of  its 
course.  Yea,  we  may  question  whether,  while  this  union  subsists,  it 
be  possible  for  the  mind  to  be  affected  in  so  violent  a  degree,  without 
some  or  other  of  those  bodily  symptoms  following.  It  is  also  remark- 
able that  there  is  plain  Scripture  precedent  of  every  symptom  which  has 
lately  appeared.  So  that  we  cannot  allow  even  the  conviction  attended 
with  these  to  be  madness,  without  giving  up  both  reason  and  Scripture." 
Dr.  Priestley  goes  on,  and  says,  "  Nor  will  many  of  you,  I  presume, 
at  this  day  pretend  to  date  your  new  birth  with  as  much  precision  aa 
your  natural  birth."  The  inaccuracy  of  these  expressions  I  leave  un- 
disturbed. "  But  you  will  here  find  the  day,  the  hour,  and  the  minute, 
when  both  Mr.  John  and  Mr.  Charles  Wesley  first  received,  or  ima- 
gined they  first  received,  their  divine  light ;  and,  as  they  say,  became 
Christians,  from  being  before  that  moment  no  Christians."  More  in- 
accuracy !  Hour  and  minute  are  added  here  by  Dr.  Priestley,  none  of 
which  appear  in  the  letters  in  this  publication  :  but  I  let  that  pass  also, 
though  inexcusable  in  an  experimental  philosopher  ;  for  although  these 
things  are  not  mentioned,  yet  they  were  doubtless  as  determinable  as 
the  day.  I  must  here  also  say,  that  Methodism  is  in  this  respect  also 
the  same.  God  does  his  own  work  in  the  same  way  now  that  he  did 
then.  And  there  is  nothing  more  usual  among  even  the  best  educated 
and  enlightened  of  the  members  of  the  Methodists'  society  than  a  dis- 
tinct knowledge  of  the  time,  place,  and  circumstances,  when,  where,  and 
in  which,  they  were  deeply  convinced  of  sin,  and  afterward  had  a  clear 
sense  of  God's  mercy  to  their  souls,  in  forgiving  their  sins,  and  giving 
them  the  witness  in  themselves  that  they  were  born  of  God.  So  that, 
in  this  sense  also  the  Methodists  not  only  continue  to  preach,  believe, 
and  be,  what  they  formerly  were,  but  differ  toto  cotlo  from  Doctor  Priest- 
ley, and  the  religious  tenets  he  held.  And  let  this  be  an  answer  to  his 
question  in  p.  25.  "  In  what  then,  my  brethren,  do  we  differ  ?" — In 
almost  every  article  of  our  creed,  the  being  of  a  God  and  the  Divine 
authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  excepted.  And  if  we  ever  change  our 
creed  into  that  to  which  the  doctor  wishes  to  lead  us,  may  our  name 
be  blotted  out  from  the  earth,  and  our  memorial  perish  from  among  the 
children  of  men  !  Selah. 

1  shall  now  proceed  to  take  a  general  view  of  the  writings  and  cha- 
racter of  this  eminent  man. 

It  is  said  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  by  those  who  knew  him  well,  that 
"  he  possessed  an  open,  benevolent  temper,  which  he  had  from  nature, 
which  he  had  so  cultivated  on  principle,  and  was  so  intent  upon  it  as  a 
duty  to  help  every  body  as  he  could,  that  the  number  and  continual 
success  of  his  good  offices  was  astonishing  even  to  his  friends,  who 
saw  with  what  pleasure  and  zeal  he  did  them :  and  he  was  an  instance 
how  exceedingly  serviceable  in  life  a  person  of  a  very  inferior  station 
may  be,  who  seta  his  heart  upon  it.  As  his  diligence  on  such  occasions 

36 


282  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

was  never  tired  out,  so  he  had  a  singular  address  and  dexterity  in 
soliciting  them.  His  own  little  income  was  liberally  made  use  of; 
and  as  bis  acquaintance  whom  he  applied  to  were  always  confident  of 
his  care  and  integrity,  he  never  wanted  means  to  carry  on  his  good 
purposes  ;  so  that  his  life  was  a  series  of  useful  charity." 

Mr.  Wesley's  wit  was  keen,  and  his  sense  strong.  As  a  poet,  he 
stands  entitled  to  a  very  distinguished  niche  in  the  temple  of  fame ; 
and  it  has  long  appeared  to  me  strange  that  his  poetical  works  have 
not  found  a  place  either  in  Johnson's,  Anderson's,  or  Chalmers'  collec- 
tion of  the  British  poets.  To  say  that  those  collectors  did  not  think 
them  entitled  to  a  place  there  would  be  a  gross  reflection  on  their 
judgment ;  as  in  the  last  and  best  collection,  consisting  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  poets,  it  would  be  easy  to  prove  that  Samuel  Wesley 
is  equal  to  most,  and  certainly  superior  to  one  half,  of  that  number. 
But  the  name  ! — the  name  would  have  scared  many  superficial  and 
fantastic  readers,  as  they  would  have  been  sadly  afraid  of  meeting  in 
some  corner  or  other  with  Methodism,  which  is  so  intimately  connected 
with  the  name  of  Wesley.  With  multitudes  a  name  is  the  omen  of 
good  or  bad  luck,  according  to  their  fancies  or  prepossessions. 

In  1736  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  published  A  collection  of  Poems  on 
several  Occasions,  in  quarto,  for  which  it  appears  he  got  a  handsome 
list  of  subscribers.  Before  this,  several  of  them  had  been  published 
separately,  or  in  other  collections,  without  the  name  of  the  author. 
One  of  these  poems,  indeed  the  largest  in  the  collection,  is  intituled 
The  Battle  of  the  Sexes.  It  contains  fifty  verses,  in  the  stanza  of 
Spencer.  It  had  been  published  by  itself,  without  the  author's  know- 
ledge ;  and  produced  a  handsome  compliment  from  Mr.  Christopher 
Pitt,  To  the  unknown  Author  O/THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SEXES  :  it  is  too 
long  to  transcribe ;  but  I  cannot  withhold  the  following  lines, — 

What  muse  but  yours  so  justly  could  display 

Th'  embattled  passions  marshall'd  in  array  ? 

To  airy  notions  solid  forms  dispense, 

And  make  our  thoughts  the  images  of  sense  ? 

Discover  all  the  rational  machine, 

And  show  the  movements,  springs,  and  wheels  within. 

His  personification  and  description  of  religion  in  this  poem  has  been 
admired  by  all  readers, — 

"  Mild,  sweet,  serene,  and  cheerful  was  her  mood ; 
Nor  grave  with  sternness,  nor  with  lightness  free. 
Against  example  resolutely  good, 
Fervent  in  zeal,  and  warm  in  charity." 

In  this  work  there  are  four  tales  admirable  for  their  humour,  and  for 
their  appropriate  and  instructive  moral ;  though  in  some  instances  the 
descriptions  are  rather  coarse  : — The  Cobbler,  The  Pig,  The  J\lastiffr 
and  The  Basket. 

As  the  work  is  in  the  hands  of  few  of  those  under  whose  notice 
these  memoirs  are  likely  to  fall,  I  shall  insert  the  Pig  as  a  specimen, — 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  283 

THE  PIG :— A  TALE. 


SOME  husbands  on  a  winter's  day 
Were  met  to  laugh  their  spleen  away. 
As  wine  flows  in  and  spirits  rise, 
They  praise  their  consorts  to  the  skies. 
Obedient  wives  were  seldom  known. 
Yet  all  could  answer  for  their  own : 
Acknowledged  each  as  sov'reign  lord. 
Abroad,  at  home,  in  deed,  in  word ; 
In  short,  as  absolute  their  reign,  as 
Grand  seignior's  over  his  sultanas. 
For  pride  or  shame  to  be  outdone, 
All  join'd  in  the  discourse  but  one ; 
Who,  vex'd  so  many  lies  to  hear, 
Thus  stops  their  arrogant  career : 
'Tis  mighty  strange,  sirs,  what  you  iay ! 
What !  all  so  absolutely  sway, 
In  England,  where  Italians  wise 
Have  plac'd  the  woman's  paradise  ; 
In  London,  where  the  sex's  flower 
Have  of  that  Eden  fix'd  the  bow'r  ? 
Fie,  men  of  sense,  to  be  so  vain ! 
You're  not  in  Turkey  or  in  Spain ; 
True  Britons  all,  I'll  lay  my  life 
None  here  is  master  of  his  wife. 

These  words  the  general  fury  rouse, 
And  all  the  common  cause  espouse ; 
Till  one  with  voice  superior  said, 
(Whose  lungs  were  sounder  than  his  head,) 
I'll  send  my  footmen  instant  home, 
To  bid  his  mistress  hither  come : 
And  if  she  flies  not  at  my  call, 
To  own  my  power  before  you  all, 
I'll  grant  I'm  hen-peck'd  if  you  please, 
As  S or  as  Socrates. 

Hold  there,  replies  th'  objector  sly, 
Prove  first  that  matrons  never  lie ; 
Else  words  are  wind :  to  tell  you  true, 
I  neither  credit  them  nor  you ; 
No,  we'll  be  judg'd  a  surer  way, 
By  what  they  do,  not  what  they  say. 
1 11  hold  you  severally,  that  boast, 
A  supper  at  the  loser's  cost, 
That  if  you'll  but  vouchsafe  to  try 
A  trick  I'll  tell  you  by  and  by, 
Send  straight  for  every  wife  quite  round, 
One  mother's  daughter  is  not  found, 
But  what  before  her  husband's  face 
Point  blank  his  order  disobeys. 


To  this  they  one  and  all  consent : 
The  wager  laid,  the  summons  went. 
Meanwhile  he  this  instruction  gives, 
Pray  only  gravely  tell  your  wives, 
Your  will  and  pleasure  is,  t' " 


1  invite 


in    M.IIU     £Sll>dOUJ  >.    10|     If      lli\ILC 

These  friends  to  a  BOIL'D  PIO  to  night ; 
The  commoner  the  trick  has  been, 
The  better  chance  you  have  to  win  : 
The  treat  is  mine,  if  they  refuse : 
But  if  they  boil  it,  then  I  lose. 


284  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

The  first  to  whom  the  message  came 
Was  a  well  born  and  haughty  dame : 
A  saucy,  independent  she, 
With  jointure  and  with  pin  money, 
Secur'd  by  marriage  deeds  from  wants, 
Without  a  sep'rate  maintenance. 
Her  loftiness  disdain'd  to  hear 
Half  through  her  husband's  messenger ; 
But  cut  him  short  with — How  dare  he 
'Mong  pot  companions  send  for  me  1 
He  knows  his  way,  if  sober,  home  ; 
And  if  he  wants  me,  bid  him  come. 
This  answer,  hastily  return'd, 
Pleas'd  all  but  him  whom  it  concern'd. 
For  each  man  thought,  his  wife  on  trial 
Would  brighter  shine  by  this  denial. 

The  second  was  a  lady  gay, 
Who  lov'd  to  visit,  dress,  and  play, 
To  sparkle  in  the  box,  or  ring, 
And  dance  on  birthnights  for  the  king ; 
Whose  head  was  busy  wont  to  be 
With  something  else  than  cookery. 
She,  hearing  ofher  husband's  name, 
Tho'  much  a  gentlewoman,  came. 
When  half  informed  of  his  request, 
A  dish  as  he  desired  it  tlrest, 
Quoth  madam,  with  a  serious  face, 
Without  inquiring  what  it  was, 
You  can't  sure  for  an  answer  look, 
Sir,  do  you  take  me  lor  your  cook  ? 
But  I  must  haste  a  friend  to  see, 
Who  stays  my  coming  for  her  tea. 
So  said,  that  minute  out  she  flew  : 
What  could  the  slighted  husband  do  ? 
His  wager  lost  must  needs  appear, 
For  none  obey  that  will  not  hear. 

The  next  for  housewifery  renown'd, 
A  woman  notable  was  own'd, 
Who  hated  idleness  and  airs, 
And  minded  family  affairs. 
Expert  at  ev'ry  thing  was  she, 
At  needle-work,  or  surgery  ; 
Fam'd  for  her  liquors  far  and  near, 
From  richest  cordial  to  small  beer. 
To  serve  a  feast  she  understood, 
In  English  or  in  foreign  mode, 
What'er  the  wanton  taste  could  choose 
In  sauces,  kickshaws,  and  ragouts ; 
She  spar'd  for  neither  cost  nor  pain, 
Her  welcome  guests  to  entertain. 
Her  husband  fair  accosts  her  thus : 
To-night  these  friends  will  sup  with  us. 
She  answer'd  with  a  smile,  My  dear, 
Your  friends  are  always  welcome  there. 
But  we  desire  a  pig,  and  pray 
You'd  boil  it. — Boil  it,  do  you  say  7 
I  hope  you'll  give  me  leave  to  know 
My  business  better,  sir,  than  so. 
Why !  ne'er  in  any  book  was  yet 
Found  such  a  whimsical  receipt. 
My  dressing  none  need  be  afeard  of, 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  285 

But  such  a  dish  was  never  heard  of. 
I'll  roast  it  nice,— but  shall  not  6otf  it; 
Let  those  that  know  no  better  spoil  it. 
Her  husband  cry'd,  For  all  my  boast, 
I  own  the  wager  fairly  lost ; 
And  other  wives  beside  my  love, 
Or  I'm  mistaken  much,  may  prove 
More  chargeable  than  this  to  me, 
To  show  their  pride  in  housewifery. 

Now  the  poor  wretch  who  next  him  sat, 
Felt  his  own  heart  go  pit-a-pat ; 
For  well  he  knew  his  spouse's  way ; 
Her  spirit  brook'd  not  to  obey ! 
She  never  yet  was  in  the  wrong : 
He  told  her  with  a  trembling  tongue, 
Where,  and  on  what  his  friends  would  feast, 
And  how  the  dainty  should  be  drest. 
To-night  ?  quoth,  in  a  passion,  she ; 
No,  sirs,  to-night  it  cannot  be. 
And  was  it  a  boiTd  pig  you  said  ? 
You  and  your  friends  sure  are  not  mad ! 
The  kitchen  is  the  proper  sphere, 
Where  none  but  females  should  appear : 
And  cooks  their  orders,  by  your  leave, 
Always  from  mistresses  receive. 
Boil  it !  was  ever  such  an  ass ! 
Pray,  what  would  you  desire  for  sauce  ? 
If  any  servant  in  my  pay 
Dare  dress  a  pig  that  silly  way, 
In  spite  of  any  whim  of  yours 
I'll  turn  them  quickly  out  of  doors  : 
For  no  such  thing,  nay,  never  frown, 
Where  I  am  mistress,  shall  be  done. 
Each  woman  wise  her  husband  rules  : 
Passive  obedience  is  for  fools. 

This  case  was  quickly  judg'd. — Behold, 
A  fair  one  of  a  softer  mould  ; 
Good  humour  sparkled  in  her  eye, 
And  unaffected  pleasantry. 
So  mild  and  sweet  she  enter'd  in, 
Her  spouse  thought  certainly  to  win. 
Pity  such  golden  hopes  should  fail ! 
Soon  as  she  heard  th'  appointed  tale, 
My  dear,  I  know  not,  I  protest, 
Whether  in  earnest  or  in  jest, 
So  strange  a  supper  you  demand  ; 
Howe'erl'll  not  disputing  stand, 
But  do't  as  freely  as  you  bid  it, 
Prove  but  that  ever  woman  did  it. 
This  cause,  by  general  consent. 
Was  lost  for  want  of  precedent. 
Thus  each  denied  a  several  way  ; 
But  all  agreed  to  disobey. 

One  only  dame  did  yet  rewiam, 
Who  downright  honest  was  and  plain  : 
If  now  and  then  her  voice  she  tries, 
'Tis  not  for  rule  but  exercise. 
Unus'd  her  lord's  commands  to  slight, 
Yet  sometimes  pleading  for  the  right, 


286  SAMUEL   WESLEY,   JUN. 

She  made  her  little  wisdom  go 

Farther  than  wiser  women  do. 

Her  husband  tells  her,  looking  grave, 

A  roasting  pig  I  boifd  would  have, 

And  to  prevent  all  pro  and  con, 

I  must  insist  to  have  it  done. 

Says  she,  My  dearest,  shall  your  wife 

Get  a  nickname  to  last  for  life  ? 

If  you  resolve  to  spoil  it,  do  ; 

But  I  desire  you'll  eat  it  too  : 

For  though  'tis  boifd  to  hinder  squabble, 

I  shall  not,  will  not,  sit  at  table. 

She  spoke,  and  her  good  man  alone 
Found  he  had  neither  lost  nor  won, 
So  fairly  parted  stakes.     The  rest 
Fell  on  the  wag  that  caus'd  the  jest — 
Would  your  wt/e  boil  it?  let  us  see. 
Hold  there — you  did  not  lay  with  me. 
You  find,  in  spite  of  all  you  boasted, 
Your  pigs  are  fated  to  be  roasted. 
The  wager  's  lost,  no  more  contend, 
But  take  this  counsel  from  a  friend  : 
Boast  not  your  empire,  if  you  prize  it, 
For  happiest  he  that  never  tries  it. 
Wives  unprovok'd  think  not  of  sway  ; 
Without  commanding  they  obey. 
But  if  your  dear  ones  take  the  field, 
Resolve  at  once  to  win  or  yield  : 
For  Heaven  no  medium  ever  gave 
Between  a  sovereign  and  a  slave. 

Mr.  S.  Wesley  had  the  highest  reverence  for  Divine  revelation  :  he 
considered  its  detractors,  whom  he  generally  found  to  be  profligates, 
unworthy  of  the  name  of  men  ;  and  they  received  the  severest  lashes 
of  his  satirical  muse.  The  following  specimens  will  show  his  mode  of 
thinking  and  feeling  on  these  subjects. 

ON  MR.  HOBBES. 

OCCASIONED  BY  A  COPT  OF  VERSES    WRITTEN    BY  THE  EARL  OP  MDLORATE. 

'Tis  justly  thought !  to  praise  is  ever  hard, 
When  real  virtue  fires  the  glowing  bard  : 
But  harder  far,  whene'er  the  poet's  mind 
Lab'ring  creates  the  worth  he  cannot  find. 
'Twill  task  aCowley's  genius,  to  commend 
False  Brutus  cringing  while  he  stabs  his  friend  ; 
To  make  the  trifler  Hobbes  unworthy  shine, 
Will  ask  the  utmost  of  a  wit  like  thine  ! 

The  reader's  malice  makes  the  satire  please: 
Yet  praises  void  of  truth  are  flatteries, 
Which  steal  from  genuine  worth  the  honours  due  ; 
Romantic  heroes  thus  obscure  the  true. 

The  wise  and  good  morality  will  guide, 

Jlnd  superstition  all  the  world  beside. 
As  wise  and  great  no  longer  then  must  shine, 
Good  Socrates,  or  Plato  the  Divine  ; 
On  ancient  Greece  is  pass'd  a  general  doom, 
And  Tully  pleading  for  the  gods  of  Rome. 
All  statues  to  their  fame  are  overthrown, 
And  Hobbes  or  Epicurus  stands  alone  ! 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUrf.  287 

Shall  Christian  virtues  too  the  slander  share, 
And  wait,  as  captives,  his  triumphal  car  ? 
As  by  superior  excellence  compell'd, 
Shall  Anna  bow  ?  shall  Charles  the  martyr  yield  ? 
Hyde,  wise  in  calms,  and  faithful  in  the  storm, 
Great  to  record,  but  greater  to  perform  ? 
Wide-conqu'ring  Raleigh,  and  far-searching  Boyle, 
And  Newton,  glory  of  our  age  and  isle  ? 
Are  these  the  vulgar  superstitious  crowd, 
That  own  the  maxims  of  th'  incarnate  God  ? 
Rather  than  heav'n,  let  earth  be  disesteem'd, 
And  Hobbes  exploded,  than  our  God  blasphem'd. 
Hobbes  !  in  whose  ev'ry  page  display'd  we  see 
His  privilege  of  man,  absurdity  ! 
'Tis  hard  to  point  where  most  his  mwits  shine, 
In  human  learning,  or  in  laws  Divine. 
JUl  matter  thinks  as  suck,  he  gravely  says, 
The  smallest  grain  of  sand,  and  spire  of  grass  ; 
Only  t'  express  their  thoughts  they  wanted  pow'r, 
'Till  he  arose  their  sweet-tongued  orator. 
Rome's  wildest  legends  are  excell'd  at  once, 
With  thinking  blocks  and  philosophic  stones. 

Say,  whence  his  far-fam'd  politics  began, 
Whence  his  admir'd  and  lov'd  leviathan  : 
Wearied  with  exile,  basely  he  comply'd, 
And,  coward,  started  from  the  suff'ring  side  ; 
With  abject  lies  usurping  force  ador'd, 
And  measur'd  justice  by  the  longest  sword. 
Bless'd  moralist !  who  taught  ev'n  good  and  ill 
To  veer  obsequious  to  the  tyrant's  will : 
Prone  to  renounce  his  sense  at  Cromwell's  nod, 
And  traitor  to  his  prince,  as  to  his  God. 

Hear,  all  ye  wits,  his  gospel !   Tales  receiv'd, 
In  private  feign'd  and  publicly  believed  : 
These  are  religion.     He  alike  esteems 
The  prophet's  visions  and  the  rabbi's  dreams  ; 
Nor  matters  who  the  rising  sect  begun, 
Or  Mary's  offspring  or  Abdalla's  son. 
No  smallest  difPrence  can  his  wisdom  find ; 
For  colours  are  all  equal  to  the  blind. 

Yet  tales,  when  once  establish'd  by  the  state, 
He  holds  for  sacred,  and  as  fix'd  as  fate  : 
Nor  shall  the  almighty  Lord  his  pleasure  show, 
Without  dependence  on  the  gods  below. 
The  civil  creed  no  subject  must  deny, 
Or  disbelieve  it,  though  'tis  own'd  a  lie. 
Hither  from  farthest  east,  ye  Brahmins,  come  j 
Hither,  ye  western  locusts — monks  of  Rome  : 
Behold  this  frontless,  all-imposing  man, 
And  match  him  with  your  priestcraft,  if  you  can. 

Prodigious  sage !  who  taught  mankind  to  know 
The  dang'rous  cheats  of  Robin  Good/Mow  ! 
Of  fairies  tripping  light  a  moonshine  round, 
Where  rising  verdure  marks  the  circled  ground  1 
Charm'd  down  by  him,  each  airy  spirit  flies. 
And  grosser  witches  vanish  from  our  eyes  : 
Crones,  untransform'd,  their  own  bad  figures  keep, 
And  broomstaffs  peaceful  in  their  corners  sleep  ; 


288  SAMUEL    WESLEY,  JUN. 

Yet  vulgar  tales  this  mighty  champion  scare, 
This  foe  to  shades,  this  conqu'ror  of  the  air  ; 
Ghosts  immaterial  he  as  dreams  decries, 
Yet  dreads  their  pow'r,  whose  being  he  denies. 
The  noon-day  boaster,  straight  a  coward  grown, 
Shudders  and  trembles  in  the  dark  alone  : 
Spectres  and  phantoms  glare  before  his  sight, 
Which,  when  the  candle  enters,  cease  to  fright. 
Twas  thus  he  liv'd,  our  nation's  boasted  pride! 
And  (O  !  that  truth  could  hide  it!)  thus  he  died. 
Dreams,  whimsies,  fancies,  nothings,  then  he  fear'd : 
And  leap'd  into  the  dark  and  disappear'd. 

Not  thus  his  matchless  wisdom  Bacon  show'd, 
He  found  in  all  things  and  he  own'd  a  God  : 
As  farther  learn'd,  still  readier  to  adore ; 
And  still  the  more  he  knew,  believ'd  the  more  : 
Glories  to  virtue  due  secure  to  find, 
Unbounded  and  immortal  as  the  mind. 
Could  Hobbes,  alas  !  an  equal  prospect  see 
In  the  sad  gloom  of  dark  futurity, 
Whodream'd  that  man,  once  dust,  shall  never  rise ; 
That  when  the  carcass  falls  the  spirit  dies ; 
If  quite  extinct,  insensible  of  fame, 
Yet  barr'd  the  poor  reversion  of  a  name. 
While  yet  alive  by  vanity  betray'd, 
He  saw  his  fleeting,  groundless  honours  ,fade  ; 
Nor  sacred  verse  their  lustre  can  prolong : 
No,  not  a  Cowley's  nor  a  Mulgrave's  song. 


ON  SOME  BLASPHEMOUS  DISCOURSES 
ON  OUR  SAVIOUR'S  MIRACLES. 

HAIL,  Christian  prelates,  for  your  Master's  name 
Expos'd  by  fool-born  jest  to  grinning  shame! 
Hail,  fathers  !  to  be  envy'd,  not  deplor'd, 
Who  share  the  treatment  destin'd  to  your  Lord, 
What  time  his  mortal  race  on  earth  began, 
When  first  the  Son  of  God  was  son  of  man ! 

Behold  from  night  the  great  accuser  rise, 
Retouching  old,  and  coining  modern  lies  ; 
No  slander  unessay'd,  no  path  untrod, 
To  blast  the  glories  of  incarnate  God  ! 
"  An  open  enemy  to  Moses'  laws  ; 
A  secret  patron  of  Samaria's  cause ; 
Who  dared  at  Levi's  race  his  curses  send, 
The  sot's  companion  and  the  sinner's  friend  ; 
Who  purpos'd  Sion's  temple  to  o'erthrow, 
Traitor  to  Caesar,  and  to  God  a  foe  ; 
Who  wonders  wrought  by  force  of  magic  spell, 
Possest  with  demons,  and  in  league  with  hell." 
Remains  there  aught,  ye  pow'rs  of  darkness,  yet  ? 
Yes ;  make  your  ancient  blasphemies  complete — 
"  The  sacred  leaves  no  prophecies  contain, 
No  miracles,  to  prove  Messiah's  reign." 
To  this  each  sacred  leaf  aloud  replies, 
Nor  need  we  trust  ouv  reason,  but  our  eyes. 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  289 

'Tis  urg'd,  his  mightiest  wonders  never  show'd 
Our  Saviour  nature's  Lord,  and  real  God, 
Whose  word  commanded  earth,  and  sea,  and  air, 
Bid  gloomy  demons  to  their  hell  repair, 
Spoke  all  diseases  into  health  and  bloom, 
And  call'd  the  mould'ring  carcass  from  the  tomb. 
O'er  tyrant  death  exerted  godlike  sway, 
And  op'd  the  portals  of  eternal  day. 

Here  nobler  mysteries  a  sage  descries, 

"  The  letter  false  or  trivial  in  his  eyes." 

Suppose  in  ev'ry  act  were  understood 

Some  future,  mystic,  and  sublimergood ; 

Yet  who  the  letter  into  air  refines, 

Destroys  at  once  the  substance  and  the  signs, 

Will  find  the  truth  is  with  the  figure  flown, 

Because  by  nothing,  nothing  is  foreshown  ; 

Else  lunatics  might  deep  divines  commence, 

And  downright  nonsense  be  the  type  of  sense. 

What  wilder  dream  did  ever  madman  seize, 

Than — "  Symbols  all  are  mere  nonentities." 

This  Sion's  hill  fast  by  the  roots  will  tear, 

And  scatter  Sinai's  mountain  into  air: 

No  David  ever  reign'd  on  Judah's  throne, 

For  David  shadow'd  his  diviner  Son. 

So  fair,  so  glorious  light's  material  ray, 

That  heav'n  is  liken'd  to  a  cloudless  day  : 

Embodied  souls  require  some  outward  sign 

To  represent  and  image  things  divine. 

All  objects  must  we  therefore  subtilize, 

And  raze  the  face  of  nature  from  our  eyes  7 

Dispute  is  over,  the  creation  gone, 

In  noon-day  splendour  we  behold  no  sun. 

Thus,  fast  as  Pow'r  almighty  can  create, 

May  frenzy  with  a  nod  annihilate. 

No  marks  of  foul  imposture  then  were  known, 

The  cures  were  public,  to  a  nation  shown  : 

And  who,  the  facts  expps'd  to  ev'ry  eye, 

If  false  could  credit,  or  if  true  deny  ? 

While  thousands  liv'd,  by  miracle  restor'd, 

Hcal'd  by  a  touch,  a  shadow,  or  a  word  ! 

Denial  then  had  shocking  prov'd  and  vain  , 

But  now  the  serpent  tries  another  train, 

To  turns  and  doubts  and  circumstances  flies, 

And  groundless,  endless  may-be's  multiplies. 

Now  ev'ry  idle  question  dark  appears, 

Obscure  by  shade  of  seventeen  hundred  years, 

Which  then  each  ignorant  and  child  must  know, 

And  ev'ry  friend  resolve,  and  ev'ry  foe. 

No  trace  of  possible  deceit  was  there  : 

Would  those  who  spilt  his  blood  his  honour  spare  ? 

When  prejudice  and  int'rest  urg'd  his  fate, 

And  superstition  cdg'd  their  keenest  hate, 

When  ev'ry  footstep  was  beset  with  spies, 

And  restless  envy  watch'd  with  all  her  eyes  ; 

When  Jewish  priests  with  Herod's  courtiers  join'd, 

And  pow'r,  and  craft,  and  earth,  and  hell  combin'd. 

Speak,  Caiaphas !  thy  prophecy  be  shown, 

He  died  for  Israel's  sake,  and  not  his  own. 

Pilate,  arise !  His  righteous  cause  maintain, 

And  clear  the  injurM  innocent  again ! 

Truth  fixt,  eternal  stands,  and  can  defy 

Time's  rolling  course  to  turn  it  to  a  lie. 

37 


290  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUN. 

Must  ev'ry  age  the  once  heard  cause  recall, 

Replacing  Jesus  in  the  judgment  hall ; 

Cite  living  witnesses  anew  to  plead, 

And  raise  from  dust  the  long  sepulchred  dead  ? 

That  fools  undue  conviction  may  receive, 

And  those  who  reason  slight  may  sense  believe, — 

Those,  who  the  test  of  former  ages  scorn, 

(For  men  were  idiots  all  till  they  were  born,) 

Whose  strength  of  argument  in  this  we  view, 

JTis  so  long  since,  perhaps  it  is  not  true. 

Ye  worthies,  in  the  book  of  life  enroll'd, 
Who  nobly  fill'd  the  bishops'  thrones  of  old  ; 
Ye  priests,  on  second  thrones,  who,  true  to  God, 
In  tortures  and  in  death  your  priestcraft  show'd  ; 
Ye  flocks,  disdaining  from  the  fold  to  stray, 
Still  following  where  your  pastors  led  the  way, 
Whose  works  thre'  length  of  years  transmitted  come, 
Escap'd  from  Gothic  waste  and  papal  Rome, 
Justly  renown'd  !  behold,  how  malice  tries 
To  blast  your  fame,  and  vex  your  paradise  ! 
Let  heretics  each  human  slip  declare, 
And  ridicule  the  test  they  cannot  bear  : 
To  these  what  modish  ignorants  succeed, 
And  fops  your  writings iblame  who  cannot  read. 
These  open  enmities  to  glory  tend ; 
The  wound  strikes  deeper  from  a  seeming  friend. 
Let  deist  refugees  your  fame  oppose, 
And  Dutch  professors  list  themselves  your  foes  : 
But  all !  let  none  asperse  with  vile  applause, 
And  quote  with  praises  in  the  devil's  cause  ; 
In  gleaning  scraps  bad  diligence  employ, 
The  tenor  of  your  doctrines  to  destroy ; 
Make  you  your  much-lov'd  Lord  and  God  deride, 
For  whom  your  saints  have  liv'd,  and  martyrs  died. 
Yet  so  pursued  by  love-dissembling  hate, 
You  fill  the  measure  of  your  Master's  fate. 
Glory  to  Jesus  !  the  blasphemer  cries  ; 
But  glaring  malice  mocks  the  thin  disguise. 
Iscariot  thus  false  adoration  paid, 
Hail'd  when  he  seiz'd,  saluted  and  betray'd.        i 
May  Jesus'  blood  discharge  ev'n  this  offence, 
Whenwash'd  with  tears  of  timely  penitence! 
Ere  yet  experience  sad  assent  create, 
Convince  in  earnest,  but  convince  too  late ; 
Ere  yet,  decended  from  dissolving  skies, 
To  plead  his  cause  himself  shall  God  arise. 
Then  scorn  must  cease,  and  laughter  must  be  o'er, 
And  witty  fools  reluctantly  adore. 

So,  as  authentic  old  records  declare, 
(If  past  with  future  judgment  we  compare,) 
Possest  with  frantic  and  demoniac  spleen, 
Apostate  Julian  scoffM  the  Nazarene  ; 
Has  keenest  wit  th'  imperial  jester  tries ; 
Sure  to  his  breast  the  vengeful  arrow  flies ; 
He,  while  his  wound  with  vital  crimson  streams, 
Proud  in  despair,  confesses  and  blasphemes  ; 
Impious,  but  unbelieving  now  no  more, 
He  owns  the  Galilean  conqueror. 

The  verses  on  setting  up  Mr.  Sutler's  monument  in  Westminster 
abbey  have  been  attributed  to  another  author  :  but  we  have  Mr.  Wea- 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JUtf.  291 

It-v's  hand  and  name  claiming  them  as  his  own;  and  though  well 
known,  I  shall  introduce  them  here  because  of  an  important  variation 
in  the  second  line  in  the  MS.  from  that  in  the  printed  copy. 

"  While  Butler,  needy  wretch  !  was  yet  alive, 
No  purse-proud  printer  would  a  dinner  give. 
See  him,  when  starv'd  to  death,  and  turn'd  to  dust, 
Presented  with  a  monumental  bust ! 
The  poet's  fate  is  here  in  emblem  shown ; 
He  ask'd  for  bread,  and  he  received  a  stone." 

In  the  printed  copies  "  no  generous  patron"  is  found  instead  of 
"  purse-proud  printer." 

The  Methodists  should  know  that  the  hymns  which  begin  with  the 
following  lines  were  composed  by  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  : — 

"  The  morning  flowers  display  their  sweets,"  &c. 
"  From  whence  these  dire  portents  around,"  &c. 
"  The  Sun  of  righteousness  appears,"  &c. 
"  The  Lord  of  Sabbath  let  us  praise,"  &c. 
"  Hail,  Father  whose  creating  call,"  &c. 
"  Hail,  God  the  Son,  in  glory  crown'd,"  &c. 
"  Hail,  Holy  Ghost !  Jehovah !  third,"  &c. 
"  Hail,  holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord,"  &c. 

I  do  not  recollect  to  have  seen  in  print  the  following  line*  to  Mr. 
Pope  : — 

"  Depend  not  upon  verse  for  fame  ; 
(Tho'  none  can  equal  thine;) 
Our  language  never  rests  the  same, 
'Twill  rise,  or  'twill  decline. 

Thy  wreaths,  in  some  few  fleeting  hours, 

Too  soon  will  be  decay'd  ; 
But  hist'ry  lasts,  tho'  modern  flow'rs 

Of  poetry  must  fade. 

A  surer  way  then  would'st  thou  find, 

Thy  glory  to  prolong ; 
While  there  remains  among  mankind 

A  sense  of  right  and  wrong  ? 

Thy  fame  with  nature's  self  shall  end, 

Let  future  times  but  know — 
That  Mlerbury  was  thy  friend, 

And  Bentley  was  thy  foe." 

His  verses  on  forms  oj  prayer,  against  Dr.  Watts,  who  made  form* 
of  praise,  by  turning  the  Psalms  into  a  sort  of  Christian  hymns,  are 
strong  and  pointed  : — 

"  Form  stints  the  Spirit,  Watts  has  said, 

And  therefore  oft  ia  wrong; 
At  best  a  crutch  the  weak  to  aid, 
A  nmbrance  to  the  strong. 

Of  human  liturgies  the  load 

Perfection  scorns  to  bear ; 
The  apostles  were  but  weak,  when  God 

Prescribed  hia/orm  of  prayer. 


292  SAMUEL   WEflLEY,  JUN, 

Old  David  both  in  prayer  and  praise 

A  form  for  crulcheg  brings  : 
But  Watts  has  dignified  his  lays, 

And  furnished  him  with  wings. 

Ev'n  Watts  a  form  for  praise  can  choose, 

For  prayer  who  throws  it  by  ; 
Crutches  to  walk  he  can  refuse, 

But  uses  them  lojly .'" 

Mr.  Wesley  was  highly  esteemed  by  Lord  Oxford,  Mr.  Pope,  and 
Dean  Swift;  and  indeed  by  some  of  the  greatest  men  of  his  time. 
With  the  two  former  he  was  in  habits  of  intimate  correspondence  :  of 
this  the  following  letters  are  a  proof: — 

"  Dover-street,  Aug.  7,  1734. 

"  REVEREND  SIR, — I  am  sorry  and  ashamed  to  say  it,  but  the  truth 
must  come  out,  that  I  have  had  a  letter  of  yours  dated  June  8th, — and 
this  is  August  7th ; — and  I  have  but  now  set  pen  to  paper  to  answer  it. 

"  I  assure  you  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  from  you ;  and  since  that 
you  are  much  mended  in  your  health,  change  of  air  will  certainly  be  of 
great  service  to  you,  and  I  hope  you  will  use  some  other  exercise  than 
that  of  the  school.  I  hear  you  have  an  increase  of  above  forty  boys 
since  you  have  been  down  there.  I  am  very  glad  for  your  sake  that 
you  are  so  well  approved  of.  I  hope  it  will  in  every  respect  answer 
your  expectation.  If  your  health  be  established,  I  make  no  doubt  that 
all  parts  will  prove  to  your  mind,  which  will  be  a  great  pleasure  to  me. 

"There  is  very  little  news  stirring.  They  all  agree  that  the  bishop 
of  Winchester  is  dying.  They  say  Hoadley  is  to  succeed  him,  and 
Potter  Hoadley  :  but  how  farther  I  cannot  tell ;  nor  does  the  town  pre- 
tend, which  is  a  wonderful  thing.  I  am  very  glad  you  was  reduced  to 
read  over  Hudibras  three  times  with  care ;  and  I  find  you  are  perfectly 
of  my  mind,  that  it  much  wants  notes,  and  that  it  will  be  a  great  work. 
Certainly  it  will  be,  to  do  it  as  it  should  be.  I  do  not  know  one  so 
capable  of  doing  it  as  yourself.  I  speak  this  very  sincerely.  Lilly's 
life  I  have ;  and  any  books  that  I  have  you  shall  see,  and  have  the 
perusal  of  them,  and  any  other  part  that  I  can  assist.  I  own  I  am  very 
fond  of  the  work,  and  it  would  be  of  excellent  use  and  entertainment. 

"  The  news  you  read  in  the  papers  of  a  match  with  my  daughter 
and  the  duke  of  Portland  was  completed  at  Mary-le-bonne  chapel.  I 
think  there  is  the  greatest  prospect  of  happiness  to  them  both.  I  think 
it  must  be  mutual :  one  part  cannot  be  happy  without  the  other.  There 
is  a  great  harmony  of  temper,  a  liking  to  each  other,  which  I  think  is  a 
true  foundation  for  happiness.  Compliments  from  all  here  attend  you. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  most  affectionate,  humble  servant, 

"  OXFORD. 

"  The  two  boys  are  very  well.  Pray  let  me  hear  from  you  soon  ; 
and  let  me  know  from  under  your  own  hand  how  you  do." 

This  letter  shows  that  much  familiarity  and  confidence  subsisted 
between  his  lordship  and  Mr.  Wesley ;  and  it  is  most  likely  that  it  was 
by  Lord  Oxford's  influence  that  he  obtained  the  mastership  of  Blundell's 
school ;  a  place  for  which  he  was  every  way  qualified  except  in  health  ; 


SAMUEL   WEBI.EY,   JUN.  293 

but,  in  his  infirm  state,  the  most  improper  situation  in  which  he  could 
have  been  placed.  A  Church  preferment  would  have  suited  his  habits 
much  better ;  and  as  he  had  naturally  a  robust  constitution,  he  might 
have  lived  many  years  longer,  and  his  latter  days  might  have  been 
more  useful  than  his  first.  A  situation  of  this  kind  could  not  have  been 
out  of  the  power  of  Lord  Oxford.  To  a  person  of  impaired  health, 
and  infirm  constitution,  the  office  of  public  school  master  is  as  deleterious 
as  the  bottom  of  a  coal  mine. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Pope  is  without  the  date  of  the  year . 
and  we  scarcely  know  what  it  refers  to ;  but  I  suppose  to  the  subscrip- 
tion for  Mr.  Wesley's  collection  of  poems ;  and  if  so,  it  must  have 
been  written  about  1735  : — 

"  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  had  not  been  so  long  unanswered,  but 
that  I  was  not  returned  from  a  journey  of  some  weeks,  when  it  arrived 
at  this  place.  You  may  depend  on  the  money  for  the  earl  of  Peter- 
borow,  Mr.  Bethel,  Dr.  Swift,  and  Mr.  Eckershall ;  which  I  will  pay 
beforehand  to  any  one  you  shall  direct ;  and  I  think  you  may  set  down 
Dr.  Delaney,  whom  I  will  write  to.  I  desired  my  Lord  Oxford,  some 
months  since,  to  tell  you  this.  It  was  just  upon  my  going  to  take  a 
last  leave  of  Lord  Peterborow,  in  so  much  hurry,  that  I  had  not  time 
to  write ;  and  my  Lord  Oxford  undertook  to  tell  it  to  you  for  me.  I 
agree  with  you  in  the  opinion  of  Savage's  strange  performance,  which 
does  not  deserve  the  benefit  of  the  clergy.  Mrs.  Wesley  has  my 
sincere  thanks  for  her  good  wishes  in  favour  of  this  wretched  tabernacle, 
my  body.  The  soul  that  is  so  unhappy  as  to  inhabit  it  deserves  her 
regard  something  better,  because  it  harbours  much  good  will  for  her 
husband  and  herself;  no  man  being  more  truly, 

"  Dear  sir,  your  faithful  and  affectionate  servant, 

«•  A.  POPE." 

Though  both  this  letter  and  that  of  Lord  Oxford  be  in  the  main 
excessively  fiat,  and  carelessly  composed;  yet  the  last  paragraph  here 
contains  some  fine  ideas,  expressed  with  the  utmost  felicity  of  language. 

The  bislwp  of  Winchester,  mentioned  by  Lord  Oxford,  was  Richard 
Willis,  formerly  of  All  Soul's  College,  Oxford,  and  military  chaplain  to 
King  William,  who  raised  him  first  to  the  bishopric  of  Salisbury ;  after 
which  he  was  translated  in  1723  to  the  see  of  Winchester;  he  died 
in  August  1734 ;  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Benjamin  Hoadley  in  the 
September  following.  One  thing  was  peculiarly  remarkable  in  Bishop 
Willis:  he  generally  preached  extempore,  with  case,  correctness,  and 
fluency ;  a  thing  most  singular  among  the  clergy  in  those  days ;  a 
thing  which  Mr.  S.  Wesley  execrated  in  his  brothers  ;  and  which,  with 
extempore  prayer,  he  said,  "  was  enough  to  bring  in  all  confusion." 

To  this  extempore  preaching  Dr.  Willis  was  at  first  led  no  doubt  by 
the  temper  of  his  master,  King  William,  who  was  accustomed  to  hear 
such  kind  of  preaching  in  Holland ;  and  could  scarcely  have  borne  to 
hear  doctor  or  pi-elate  read  a  sermon  out  of  the  pulpit  at  the  congrega- 
t ion.  When  Willis  became  a  bishop,  he  continued  the  practice.  Some 
thought  he  wrote  his  sermons  first,  and  then  committed  them  to  memory 


294T  SAMUEL  WESLtT,  JUN. 

What  Bishop  Godwin,  De  Prcesulibus  Jlngelice,  p.  245,  says  of  Bishop 
Willis,  I  shall  subjoin :  the  substance  I  have  given  before. 

"  Richardus  Willis,  Collegii  Omnium  Jtnimarum  non  item  pridem 
aocius,  a  rege  Gulielmo  prcecipue  ed  de  cawd  ascitus  qui  in  castris 
militaribus  sibi  a  sacris  adesset,  quod  singulari  quddam  facullate 
extempore  concionandi,  vel  condones  memoriter  recilandi  polleret." 

So,  Mr.  John  Wesley  was  not  the  first  extempore  preacher  in  the 
Church ;  nor  did  extempore  preaching  bring  in  all  or  any  confusion, 
as  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  thought  it  must  do. 

Mr.  Wesley  had  not  only  the  friendship  of  Lord  Otford,  but  his 
intimacy  also ;  and  frequently  dined  at  his  house.  But  this  was  an 
honour  for  which  he  was  obliged  to  pay  a  grievous  tax,  ill  suited  to  the 
narrowness  of  his  circumstances.  Vales  to  servants,  that  sovereign 
disgrace  to  their  masters,  were  in  those  days  quite  common ;  and  in 
some  instances,  seem  to  have  stood  in  the  place  of  wages.  A  whole 
range  of  livery  men  generally  stood  in  the  lobby  with  eager  expectation 
and  rapacity,  when  any  gentleman  came  out  from  dining  at  a  nobleman's 
table ;  so  that  no  person  who  was  not  affluent  could  afford  to  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  a  nobleman's  entertainment. 

Mr.  Wesley,  who  was  a  frequent  visiter  at  Lord  Oxford's,  having 
paid  this  tax  oftener  than  well  suited  his  circumstances,  thought  it  high 
time  either  to  come  to  some  compromise  with  these  cormorants,  or  else 
to  discontinue  his  visits.     One  day  on  returning  from  his  lordship's 
table,  and  seeing  the  usual  range  of  greedy  expectants,  he  addressed 
them  thus : — "  My  friends,  I  must  make  an  agreement  with  you  suited 
to  my  purse ;  and  shall  distribute  so  much  (naming  the  sum)  once  in 
the  month,  and  no  more." — This  becoming  generally  known,  was  not 
only  the  means  of  checking  that  troublesome  importunity,  but  also  of 
redressing  the  evil ;  for  their  master,  whose  honour  was  concerned, 
commanded  them  to  "stand  back  in  their  ranks  when  a  gentleman 
retired ;"  and   prohibited  their  begging !    Many  eminent  men  have 
endeavoured  to  bring  this  vile  custom  into  deserved  disgrace !  Dryden, 
Addison,  Swift,  &c  :  but  it  still  continues,  though  under  another  form  : 
leaving  taverns  out  of  the  question,  (where  the  lowest  menial  expects 
to  be  paid  if  he  condescends  to  answer  a  civil  question,)  cooks,  cham- 
ber maids,  waiters,  errand  boys,  &c,  &c,  all  expect  money,  if  you  lodge 
in  their  master's  house  but  a  single  night !  And  they  expect  to  be  paid 
too  in  proportion  to  the  treatment  you  have  received  from  their  master, 
and  in  proportion  to  his  credit  and  respectability^  and  not  to  your  means 
or  purse.     The  gentry  of  the  land  should  rise  up  as  one  man  against 
this  disgraceful  custom,  as  the  board  of  excise  have  done  against  the 
bribes  taken  by  their  officers.     Let  a  servant,  on  being  hired,  hear, 
**  Your  wages  for  which  you  agree  shall  be  duly  and  faithfully  paid  :  I 
shall  not  require  the  aid  of  my  friends  to  make  up  the  deficiencies  of 
my  servants.     The  day  on  which  I  am  informed  you  receive  any  thing 
from  my  guests,  you  shall  be  dismissed  from  my  service."   If  all  agree 
to  act  thus,  this  grievous  tax  upon  our  friends  will  soon  be  abolished. 
There  are  few  cases  where  the  friendly  visit  does  not  cost  him  who 
pays  it  five  times  more  than  his  maintenance  would  have  done  at  his 
own  house. 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  295 

I  have  already  referred  to  Mr.  Wesley's  Lines  on  the  Death  of 
Queen  Anne,  to  which  allusion  is  made  in  the  fourth  stanza  of  his 
Epilaphium  Fir*,  p.  310.  But  I  can  find  none  but  the  following, 
which  he  has  altered  from  Prior's  Ode,  presented  to  King  William  on 
his  return  from  Holland  after  the  queen's  death,  in  1695.  I  insert  them 
because  of  a  circumstance  that  shall  be  mentioned  below. 

ON  THE  DEATH  OF  QUEEN  ANNE. 

1  At  ANNA'S  tomb  (sad,  sacred  place  !) 

The  virtues  shall  their  vigils  keep, 
And  every  muse  and  every  grace 
In  solemn,  silent  state  shall  weep. 

2  For  her  the  great,  the  gooJ,  shall  mourn, 

When  late  records  her  deeds  repeat ; 
Ages  to  come,  and  men  unborn, 

Shall  bless  her  name,  so  truly  great ! 

3  Fair  Jlllrion  shall  with  grateful  trust 

Our  sacred  ANNA'S  reliques  guard ; 
'Till  Heaven  awake  the  precious  dust, 
And  gives  the  saint  her  full  reward. 

These  verses  have  been  set  to  music  by  that  eminent  performer,  and 
honest  man,  Charles  Wesley,  Esq.,  son  to  the  late  Rev.  Charles  Wesley, 
and  nephew  to  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  ;  and  applied  to  the  late  Queen 
Charlotte,  changing  nothing  but  the  name  ;  Charlotte  for  Anna  :  and  if 
the  private  and  domestic  character  of  both  be  considered,  we  shall  find 
them  at  least  as  truly  applicable  to  the  queen  of  George  III.,  as  to  the 
illustrious  spouse  of  the  prince  of  Denmark.  They  were  certainly  very 
appropriate  in  their  application  to  the  good  Queen  Mary. 

In  his  compositions,  letters  and  friendships,  we  have  already  seen 
much  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  ;  and  relative  to  this 
point  little  needs  be  added.  A  part  of  his  character,  of  which  the 
world  knew  nothing,  was  the  brightest  and  most  worthy  of  the  imitation 
of  every  son  and  every  brother.  From  the  time  he  became  usher  in 
Westminster  school,  he  divided  his  income  with  his  parents  and  family. 
Through  him  principally,  were  his  brothers  John  and  Charles  main- 
tained at  the  university ;  and  in  all  straits  of  the  family,  his  purse  was 
not  only  opened,  but  emptied,  if  found  necessary.  And  all  this  was  done 
with  so  much  affection  and  deep  sense  of  duty,  that  it  took  off  and 
almost  prevented  the  burthen  of  gratitude  which  otherwise  must  have 
been  felt.  These  acts  of  filial  kindness  were  done  so  secretly,  that 
although  they  were  very  numerous,  and  extended  through  many  years, 
no  note  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  his  correspondence ;  his  right  hand 
never  knew  what  his  left  hand  did.  Those  alone  knew  his  bounty  who 
were  its  principal  objects,  and  they  ware  not  permitted  to  record  it. 
Indirect  hints  we  frequently  find  in  the  letters  of  old  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wesley,  and  sometimes  in  those  of  his  brothers  ;  and  those  hints  were 
all  they  dared  mention  in  their  correspondnnce  with  a  man  who  wished 
to  forget  every  act  of  kindness  ho  had  done.  His  brothers  always 
spoke  of  him  with  the  highest  reverence,  respect,  and  affection. 


2J6  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN. 

Mr,  Badcock,  it  seems,  possessed  a  letter  of  acknowledgment  from 
old  Samuel  Wesley,  written  not  long  before  his  death,  to  this  dutiful 
and  affectionate  son.  I  have  not  been  so  fortunate  as  to  see  this  letter, 
and  cannot  tell  whether  it  now  exists :  but  the  reader  will  be  highly 
pleased  at  what  Mr.  Badcock  says  of  it : — 

"  I  have  in  my  possession  a  letter  of  this  poor  and  aged  parent 
addressed  to  his  son  Samuel,  in  which  he  gratefully  acknowledges  his 
filial  duty,  in  terms  so  affecting,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  which  to  admire 
most,  the  gratitude  of  the  parent,  or  the  affection  and  generosity  of 
the  child.  It  was  written  when  the  good  old  man  was  nearly  fourscore, 
and  so  weakened  by  a  palsy  as  to  be  incapable  of  directing  a  pen,  unless 
with  his  left  hand.  I  preserve  it  as  a  curious  memorial  of  what  will 
make  Wesley  applauded  when  his  wit  is  forgotten." 

Yes,  filial  affection  is  one  of  the  first  duties  man  owes  upon  earth  : 
only  his  duty  to  God  is  paramount.  There  cannot  be  a  nearer  repre- 
sentative of  an  impoverished  Christ,  to  the  eye  of  a  child,  than  a  parent 
in  distress :  nor  will  the  approbation  of  God  be  more  strongly  expressed 
in  the  day  of  final  retribution,  than  to  that  child  who  has  honoured  the 
Lord  with  his  substance,  in  supplying  the  wants  of  those  from  whom, 
under  God,  he  has  derived  his  being.  And  those  who  have  ministered 
to  the  necessities  of  their  parents  will  be  found  at  the  top  of  the  list  of 
thoseof  whom  the  Fountainof justice  and  Fatherofmerciesspeaks,whcn 
he  says,  "  I  was  hungry,  and  ye  gave  me  meat ;  thirsty,  and  ye  gave 
me  drink  ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me ;  sick  and  in  prison,  and  ye  minis- 
tered unto  me  !"  A  sound  creed  is  a  good  thing :  but  we  know  that 
it  may  be  entertained  where  little  of  the  practice  of  piety  and  mercy  is  to 
be  found.  And  there  may  be  in  some  respects  a  deficient  creed,  where 
nevertheless  all  the  great  truths  of  religion  are  found ;  and  where  it  even 
is  not  so,  there  are  many  cases  where  the  conformity  of  the  life  to  the 
purest  principles  of  truth,  justice,  and  mercy,  sufficiently  evidences  the 
law  of  God  written  in  the  heart  by  the  finger  of  the  Almighty  himself. 

The  man  who  acted  thus  toward  his  parents,  and  contributed  to  the 
utmost  of  his  power  to  the  support  and  education  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  whose  whole  conduct  was  irreproachable,  has  been  styled 
by  certain  gentlemen,  who  ought  to  have  inquired,  if  they  did  not  know 
better,  "  A  worldly  priest  who  hated  all  pretence  to  more  religion  than 
our  neighbours,  as  an  infallible  mark  of  a  Dissenter."  This  slander  is 
too  thin,  too  barefaced,  and  too  malevolent,  to  deserve  notice.  Mr, 
Southey  has  duly  exposed  it  by  a  fine  irony :  "  The  amiable  spirit  which 
is  displayed  in  this  sentence,  its  liberality,  its  charity,  and  its  regard  to 
truth,  require  no  comment." — Life  of  Wesley,  vol.  i,  p.  294. 

I  can  say,  on  the  best  authority,  that  such  was  the  amiableness, 
benevolence,  and  excellence  of  his  public  and  private  character,  that 
during  the  seven  years  he  resided  at  Tiverton,  where  he  was  best 
known,  he  was  nearly  idolized.  His  diligence  and  able  method  of 
teaching  in  his  school  were  so  evident  and  successful,  that  in  the  first 
year  upward  of  forty  boys  were  added  to  it.  And  such  confidence  had 
the  public  in  him,  that  children  were  sent  from  all  quarters  to  be  placed 
under  his  tuition.  His  memory  was  dear  to  all  who  had  the  privilege 
of  his  acquaintance.  And  while  my  page  shall  live,  his  eminent  abili- 


SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JUN.  '  297 

ties,  his  steady  attachment  to  his  friends,  whom  he  invariably  cleaved 
to  in  adversity,  and  his  uncommon  filial  piety,  and  various  other  excel- 
lencies, shall  not  be  forgotten. 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  was  a  member  of  the  Philosophical  Society  at 
Spalding  ;  and  gave  to  their  museum  an  amulet,  that  had  touched  the 
heads  of  the  three  kings  of  Cologne,  whose  names  were  in  black  letters 
within. 

He  married  a  Miss  Berry,  or  Bury,  daughter  of  a  clergyman  of  the 
Established  Church,  and  rector  of  Watton  in  Norfolk.  Her  grand- 
father, John  Berry,  M.  A.,  fellow  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  was 
presented  to  the  rectory  of  East  Down,  Devonshire,  by  the  Protector 
Richard  Cromwell,  in  1658  ;  from  which  he  was  ejected  in  1662 
by  the  Act  of  Uniformity.  When  ejected,  he  had  ten  children,  and 
scarcely  any  thing  for  their  subsistence  ;  but  God  took  care  of  them, 
and  most  of  them  afterward  lived  in  comfortable  circumstances.  He 
continued  to  preach  in  several  places  as  he  had  opportunity  ;  and  once, 
if  not  oftener,  was  cast  into  Exeter  common  jail,  where  he  lay  for 
several  months.  Of  him  Mr.  Baxter  says,  "  He  was  an  extraordinary, 
humble,  tender-conscienced,  serious,  godly,  able  minister."  He  died 
happy  in  God,  December,  1704,  aged  nearly  eighty.  With  Miss  Berry 
Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  became  acquainted  at  Westminster,  where  her 
parents  then  resided,  and  boarded  young  gentlemen  belonging  to  the 
school.*  He  was  a  most  indulgent  husband,  and  passionately  fond  of 
his  wife,  which  is  proved  by  his  frequent  poetical  addresses  to  her  after 
marriage.  Though  he  was  accustomed  to  boast  of  his  authority  as  a 
husband,  yet  she  had  sense  enough  to  rule  under  the  appearance  of 
submission.  Mrs.  Hall,  who  knew  her,  spoke  of  her  as  one  who  was 
well  described  in  her  husband's  poetic  tale,  called  "  THE  PIG." 
"  She  made  her  little  wisdom  go 
Farther  than  wiser  women  da" 

He  had  several  children  :  but  only  one  daughter,  called  Phill  in  the 
preceding  letters,  lived  to  woman's  estate.  She  married  an  apothe- 
cary named  Earle,  in  Barnstaple ;  whose  chief  motive  in  his  marriage 
with  her  appeared  to  have  been  the  expectation  of  succeeding  to  the 
title  of  earl  of  Anglesea,  which  he  imagined  to  be  nearly  extinct,  and 
only  recoverable  through  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley ; 
and  this  even  while  John  and  Charles  were  alive,  the  latter  having  male 
issue  !  This  couple  have  been  dead  upward  of  forty  years. 

He  had  an  only  son  Samuel,  who  died  young,  but  at  what  age  I  have 
not  learned.  His  death  appears  to  have  been  a  heavy  stroke  to  all  the 
family;  and  was  particularly  so  to  his  grandfather,  ibr  the  reasons  which 
he  alleges  in  the  following  consolatory  letter,  written  to  his  son  on  the 
occasion ;  and  which  appears  to  have  been  the  answer  to  that  in  which 
he  received  the  news  of  his  death.  A  part  of  this  letter  contains  some 
curious  particulars  relative  to  his  Dissertations  on  the  book  of  Job, 
which  some  of  my  readers,  at  least,  will  be  pleased  to  see. 

*  I  have  the  MS.  diary  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Berry,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berry.  It 
commences  July  1,  1701,  and  extends  to  March  24,  1709,  she  being  then  in  her 
fifty-fifth  year.  It  marks  every  where  the  strongest  workings  of  a  soul  devoted  to 
God.  1  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  lady'a  husband  was  either  the /altar- t 
or  brother-in-laic  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley. 

38 


298  SAMUEL   WESLEY,  JON. 

"  Letter  to  my  son  Sam,  on  the  death  of  his  only  son  Sam  : — 

"  June  18,  1731. 

"  DEAR  SON, — Yes,  this  is  a  thunderbolt  indeed  to  your  whole 
family ;  but  especially  to  me,  who  now  am  not  likely  to  see  any  of  my 
name  in  the  third  generation  (though  Job  did  in  the  fourth)  to  stand 
before  God.  However,  this  is  a  new  demonstration  to  me  that  there 
must  be  a  hereafter ;  because  when  the  truest  piety  and  filial  duty 
have  been  shown,  it  has  been  followed  by  the  loss  of  children,  which 
therefore  must  be  restored  and  met  with  again,  as  Job's  first  ten  were,  in 
another  world.  As  I  resolve  from  hence,  as  he  directs,  to  stir  up  my- 
self against  the  hypocrite,  T  trust  I  shall  walk  on  in  my  way,  and  grow 
stronger  and  stronger,  as  well  as  that  God  will  support  you  both  under 
this  heavy  and  unspeakable  affliction.  But  when  and  how  did  he  die  ? 
and  where  is  his  epitaph  ?  Though  if  sending  this  now,  will  too  much 
refricare  vulnus,  I  will  stay  longer  for  it.  And  now  for  the  two  letters. 

"  First,  that  of  May  27,  from  London  :  sum  is,  1st,  as  to  the  placing 
the  dissertations,  wherein,  as  you  say,  the  Prolegomena  are  something 
of  aguish,  though  that  and  all  the  rest  I  leave  (as  often  before)  to  your 
judgment,  for  my  memory  is  near  gone  ;  neither  have  I  the  papers  in 
any  order  by  me. 

"  2.  The  Poetica  Descriptio  Monsiri,  I  think,  would  come  in  most 
naturally  after  all  the  dissertations  of  the  Behemoth  and  Leviathan  :  but 
you,  having  the  whole  before  you,  will  be  the  most  proper  judge. 

*'  3.  Do  with  the  De  Carmine  Pastoritio  as  you  please. 

"  4.  Periplus  Rubri  JVfam  comes  with  the  geography,  when  Mr. 
Hoole  has  finished  it. 

"  5.  I  remember  no  extracts  but  that  from  the  Catena,  which  is  616 
folio  pages  :  but  think  I  have  got  the  main  of  it  into  30  quartos,  which 
I  finished  yesterday,  though  there  is  no  haste  in  sending  it,  for  I  design 
it  for  the  appendix.  This  to  May  27. 

"  Now  to  yours  from  the  Isle  of  Ely,  June  3d,  which  relates  to  the 

children,  and  my  last ,  I  leave  to  your  mother,  who  writes  this 

post  if  she  has  time  ;  though  something  I  have  writ  you  already  in  my 
vlt.  or  penult,  on  the  subject. 

"  As  for  the  Testimonia  Arianorum,  ifspi  <rou  Aoyou,  it  happens  well 
that  I  have  a  pretty  good  copy,  though  not  so  perfect  as  that  which  is 
lost,  and  will  get  Mr.  Horberry  to  transcribe  it  as  soon  as  he  returns 
from  Oxford ;  though  I  think  it  will  not  come  in  till  toward  the  latter 
end  of  the  work,  as  must  your  collation  at  the  very  end,  only  before  the 
appendix ;  and  I  shall  begin  to  revise  it  to-morrow. 

"  Blessing  on  you  and  yours  from  your  loving  father, 

"  S.  W." 

I  believe  the  collation  mentioned  here  is  that  at  the  end  of  the  disser- 
tations ;  and  which  I  have  described  in  another  place. 

The  appendix,  of  which  I  have  a  considerable  portion  in  the  author's 
MS.  before  me,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  ever  printed.  It  should 
have  succeeded  the  collation  as  stated  above. 

It  may  be  seen,  from  the  accounts  which  have  been  written  of  the 
Rev.  John  Wesley,  how  earnestly  his  father  wished  him  to  succeed  him 


SAMUEL  WESLEY,  JfUN.  299 

in  the  rectory  of  Epworth ;  and  how  strongly  this  was  pressed  upon 
him  by  his  elder  brother  Samuel.  But  it  is  not  so  well  known>that  Mr. 
Samuel  was  the  first  object  of  his  father's  choice :  however,  this  is  suf- 
ficiently evident  from  the  following  letter,  which  I  transcribe  from  the 
original ;  and  Mr.  Samuel  had  evidently  endeavoured  to  divert  his  fa- 
ther's wish,  and  to  cause  him  to  fix  it  on  his  brother  John.  The  offer 
of  Epworth  to  Samuel  was  made  February,  1732  ;  the  offer  of  it  to 
John,  some  time  in  the  end  of  1734  :  the  letter,  as  referring  to  several 
family  matters,  is  interesting  and  curious  : — 

«  Feb.  28,  1732-3. 

"  DEAR  SON  SAMUEL, — For  several  reasons  I  have  earnestly  de- 
sired, especially  in  and  since  my  last  sickness,  that  you  might  succeed 
me  in  Epworth ;  in  order  to  which  I  am  willing  and  determined  to  re- 
sign the  living,  provided  you  could  make  an  interest  to  have  it  in  my 
room. 

"  My  first  and  best  reason  for  it  is,  because  I  am  persuaded  you 
•would  serve  God  and  his  people  here  better  than  I  have  done.  Though, 
thanks  be  to  God,  after  near  forty  years'  labour  among  them,  they 
grow  better ;  I  having  had  above  a  hundred  at  my  last  sacrament, 
whereas  I  have  had  less  than  twenty  formerly.  My  second  reason 
relates  to  yourself,  taken  from  gratitude,  or  rather  from  plain  honesty. — 
You  have  been  a  father  to  your  brothers  and  sisters  ;  especially  to  the 
former,  who  have  cost  you  great  sums  in  their  education,  both  before 
and  since  they  went  to  the  university.  Neither  have  you  stopped  here ; 
but  have  showed  your  piety  to  your  mother  and  me  in  a  very  liberal  man- 
ner ;  wherein  your  wife  joined  with  you  when  you  did  not  overmuch 
abound  yourselves ;  and  have  even  done  noble  charities  to  my  chil- 
dren's children.  Now  what  should  I  be  if  I  did  not  endeavour  to  make 
you  easy  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  especially  when  I  know  that  nei- 
ther of  you  have  your  health  at  London.  My  third  is  from  honest  in- 
terest ;  I  mean  that  of  our  family.  You  know  our  circumstances.  As 
for  your  aged  and  infirm  mother,  as  soon  as  I  drop  she  must  turn  out, 
unless  you  succeed  me  ;  which  if  you  do,  and  she  survives  me,  I  know 
you  '11  immedintely  take  her  then  to  your  own  house,  or  rather  continue 
her  there  ;  where  your  wife  and  you  will  nourish  her  till  we  meet 
again  in  heaven ;  and  you  will  be  a  guide  and  a  stay  to  the  rest  of  the 
family. 

"  There  are  a  few  things  more  which  may  seem  to  be  tolerable  rea- 
sons to  me  for  desiring  you  to  be  my  successor,  whatever  they  may  ap- 
pear to  others.  I  have  been  at  very  great  and  uncommon  expense  on 
this  living : — have  rebuilt  from  the  ground  the  parsonage  barn  and  dove 
cote ;  leaded,  and  planked,  and  roofed,  a  great  part  of  my  chancel ; 
rebuilt  the  parsonage  house  twice  when  it  had  been  burned,  the  first  time 
one  wing,  the  second  down  to  the  ground,  wherein  I  lost  all  my  books 
and  MSS.,  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  all  our  linen,  wearing  apparel, 
and  household  stuff,  except  a  little  old  iron,  my  wife  and  I  being  scorched 
with  the  flames,  and  all  of  us  very  narrowly  escaping  with  life.  This, 
by  God's  help,  I  built  again,  digging  np  the  old  foundations,  and  laying 
uew  ooe»  ;  it  cost  me  above  400/., Tittle  or  nothing  of  the  old  material* 


300  SAMUEL  WESLEY,   JUN. 

being  left ;  beside  new  furniture  from  top  to  bottom  ;  for  we  had  now 
very  little  more  than  what  Adam  and  Eve  had  when  they  first  set  up 
housekeeping.  I  then  planted  the  two  fronts  of  my  house  with  wall 
fruit  the  second  time,  as  I  had  done  the  old  ;  for  the  former  all  perished 
by  the  fire.  I  have  before  set  mulberries  in  my  garden,  which  bear 
plentifully,  as  lately,  cherries,  pears,  &c,  and  in  the  adjoining  croft, 
walnuts  ;  and  am  planting  more  every  day..  And  this  I  solemnly  de- 
clare, not  with  any  manner  of  view,  or  so  much  as  hopes,  that  any  of 
mine  should  enjoy  any  of  the  fruit  of  my  labour,  when  I  have  so  long 
since  outlived  all  my  friends :  but  my  prospect  was  for  some  unknown 
person,  that  I  might  do  what  became  mt,  and  leave  the  living  better 
than  I  found  it. 

"  And  yet  I  might  own  I  could  not  help  wishing,  as  'twas  natural, 
that  all  my  care  and  charge  might  not  be  utterly  sunk  and  lost  to  my 
family,  but  that  some  of  them  might  be  the  better  for  it ;  though  yet  i 
despaired  of  it  for  the  reason  above  mentioned,  till  some  time  since  the 
best  of  my  parishioners  pressed  me  earnestly  to  try  if  I  could  do  any 
thing  in  it :  though  all  I  can  do  is  to  resign  it  to  you  ;  which  I  am  ready 
frankly  and  gladly  to  do ;  scorning  to  make  any  conditions,  for  I  know 
you  better. 

"  I  commend  this  affair  and  you  and  yours  to  God,  as  becomes  your 
affectionate  father, 

"  S.  WESLEY." 

Strong  characters  will  have  enemies.  Mr.  S.  Wesley  had  such ;  and 
that  he  treated  them  with  contempt,  not  silent,  his  works  show  :  but  his 
uprightness,  steady  friendship,  benevolence,  and  charity,  even  those 
enemies  confessed.  In  those  times  party  ran,  or  rather  raged  high. 
Those  who  loved  him  were  persecuted  ;  and  he  manfully  espoused 
their  cause,  and  shared  their  reproach. 

His  high  Church  principles  may  have  amounted  to  bigotry,  but  never 
to  intolerance ;  for  there  were  many  among  the  Dissenters  whom  he 
cordially  esteemed,  and  with  whom  he  lived  in  habits  of  friendship. 
See  his  poem  on  the  death  of  a  female  friend,  a  dissenter  from  the  Church 
of  England.  By  this  piece  he  appears  displeased  rather  with  the  doc- 
trines of  unconditional  reprobation  and  election;  and  especially  as  held 
by  those  who  considered  all  others  in  a  state  of  the  utmost  danger  who 
did  not  hold  their  creed,  and  who  thought  sour  godliness  a  test  of  saving 
grace.  Such  persons  he  certainly  met  with ;  and  such  he  points  out 
in  the  following  lines  of  the  above-mentioned  poem  : — 

Wretches  of  every  glimpse  of  day  afraid, 
Souls  under  cloaks,  and  minds  in  masquerade :     • 
As  if  each  look  display'd  its  owner's  fate  ; 
And  all  that  smiTd  were  seal'd  for  reprobate  : 
As  awkward  sourness  were  a  sign  of  grace ; 
And  sure  election  blest  an  ugly  face : 
As  if  hell  fire  were  always  placed  in  view, 
Ordain'd  for  all  men  but  the  gloomy  few. 

He  knew  that  hypocrisy  and  fanaticism  had  mingled  themselves  with 
pure  religion,  in  days  comparatively  recent ;  and  he  was  afraid  of  their 


SAMUEL    WESLEY,    JTN  301 

revival.  It  was  this  fear  that  caused  him  to  oppose  his  brothers  as  he 
did,  when  he  found  them  going  so  far  out  of  the  beaten  path  of  Church 
regularity.  Had  it  pleased  God  to  have  spared  his  life  but  a  little  longer, 
the  reader  may  naturally  suppose,  from  the  evidence  that  has  been  al- 
ready adduced,  that  he  would  have  thought  and  spoken  differently  both 
of  their  manner  of  preaching,  and  the  success  of  their  ministry.  We 
have  already  seen  from  indisputable  evidence,  that  in  these  respects, 
as  well  as  in  reference  to  the  doctrines  they  preached,  his  mind  was 
considerably  changed  before  he  died  ;  and  that  he  died  not  only  in  "the 
faith  which  had  been  common  to  all  Christians  in  all  ages,"  but  in  that 
faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  which  he  had,  not  a  hypotheti- 
cal hops,  but  an  assurance  of  his  personal  and  eternal  salvation.  This 
subject  has  already  been  discussed.  Several  of  his  poems,  written  to 
his  sisters,  will  be  found  in  the  memoirs  of  their  lives  ;  and  some  more 
of  his  letters  in  the  life  of  his  brother  John. 

For  a  due  character  of  his  poetic  excellence,  see  Mr.  Pitt's  ode  to 
the  unknown  author  of  the  BATTLE  OF  THE  SEXES. 

Mr.  Samuel  Wesley  lies  buried  in  Tiverton  church  yard,  with  the 
following  inscription  on  his  grave  stone  : — 

Here  lye  interred 

The  remains  of  the  Rev.  MR.  SAMCEI/WESI-EY,  A.  M. 

Some  time  Student  of  Christ  Church,  Oxon  : 

A  man  for  his  uncommon  wit  and  learning, 

For  the  benevolence  of  his  temper, 

And  simplicity  of  manners, 

Deservedly  beloved  and  esteemed  by  all : 

An  excellent  Preacher: 

But  whose  best  sermon 

Was  the  constant  example  of  an  edifying  life : 

So  continually  and  zealously  employed 

In  acts  of  beneficence  and  charity, 

That  he  truly  followed 

His  blessed  Master's  example 

In  going  about  doing  good  : 

Of  such  scrupulous  integrity, 

That  he  declined  occasions  of  advancement  in  the  world, 

Through  fear  of  being  involved  in  dangerous  compliances ; 

And  avoided  the  usual  ways  to  preferment 

As  studiously  as  many  others  seek  them. 

Therefore,  after  a  life  spent 
In  the  laborious  employment  of  teaching  youth, 

First  for  near  twenty  years 
As  one  of  the  ushers  in  Westminster  School, 

Afterwards  for  seven  years 
As  Head  Master  of  the  Free  School  at  Tiverton, 

He  resigned  his  soul  to  God 
November  6th,  1739,  in  the  49th  year  of  his  age. 


302  MISS   EMILIA    WESLEY, — MR8.  HARPER. 

DAUGHTERS 

OF  THE  REV.  S.  WESLEY,  RECTOR  OP  EP WORTH. 


MISS  EMILIA  WESLEY,— MRS.  HARPER. 

OF  Emily  Wesley  little  is  known  :  she  seems  to  have  been  the  eldest 
of  the  seven  daughters  of  the  rector  of  Epworth,  who  survived  their 
father,  and  came  to  woman's  estate.  She  was  probably  born  either  at 
South  Ormsby  or  Epworth :  but  most  likely  at  the  former  place.  She 
is  reported  to  have  been  the  favourite  daughter  of  her  mother,  (though 
this  has  been  disputed  in  favour  of  Patty,)  and  to  have  had  strong  sense, 
much  wit,  a  prodigious  memory,  and  a  talent  for  poetry.  She  was  a 
good  classical  scholar,  and  wrote  a  beautiful  hand.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  ascertain  any  of  her  poetical  compositions,  as  no  verses  remain, 
to  which  her  name  is  affixed. 

She  married  an  apothecary  at  Epworth  of  the  name  of  Harper,  who 
left  her  a  young  widow.  What  proportion  the  intellect  of  Mr.  Harper 
bore  to  that  of  his  wife  we  know  not :  but  in  politics  they  were  ill  suited, 
as  he  was  a  violent  whig,  and  she  an  unbending  lory. 

A  letter  of.  hers  to  her  brother  John,  dated  February  16,  1750,  has 
already  been  inserted  at  the  conclusion  of  the  account  of  the  disturb- 
ances in  the  parsonage  house  at  Epworth  :  it  proves  that  Jeffrey  con- 
tinued his  operations  at  least  thirty-four  or  thirty-five  years  after  he 
retired  from  Epworth. 

It  appears  from  the  education  given  to  Miss  Emily,  and  some  others 
of  her  sisters,  that  their  parents  designed  them  for  governesses.  About 
the  year  1730,  Emily  became  teacher  at  the  boarding  school  of  a  Mrs. 
Taylor,  in  Lincoln,  where,  though  she  had  the  whole  care  of  the  school, 
she  was  not  well  used,  and  was  worse  paid.  Having  borne  this  usage  as 
long  as  reason-  would  dictate  forbearance,  she  laid  the  case  before  her 
brothers,  with  a  resolution  to  set  up  school  on  her  own  account  at 
Gainsborough.  She  had  their  approbation  ;  gave  Mrs.  Taylor  warn- 
ing, and  went  to  Gainsborough  ;  where  she  continued  at  least  till  1735, 
ps  she  was  there  at  the  time  of  her  father's  death. 

Several  of  these  particulars  we  learn  from  the  following  letter  written 
to  her  brother  John,  when  she  had  made  up  her  mind  to  leave  Lin- 
coln, and  go  to  Gainsborough  : — 

"  DEAREST  BROTHER, — Your  last  letter  comforted  and  settled  my 
mind  wonderfully.  O'continue  to  talk  to  me  of  the  reasonableness  of 
resignation  to  the  Divine  will,  to  enable  me  to  bear  cheerfully  the  ills 
of  life,  the  lot  appointed  me  ;  and  never  to  suffer  grief  so  far  to  prevail, 
as  to  injure  my  health,  or  long  to  cloud  the  natural  cheerfulness  of  my 
temper.  I  had  writ  long  since,  but  had  a  mind  to  see  first  how  my 
small  affairs  would  be  settled ;  and  now  can  assure  you  that  at  Lady- 
day  I  leave  Lincoln  certainly.  You  was  of  opinion,  you  may  remem- 
ber, that  my  leaving  Mrs.  Taylor  would  not  only  prove  prejudicial  to 
her  affairs,  (and  so  far  all  the  town  agrees  with  you,)  but  would  be  a 
great  affliction  taher.  I  own  J  thought  so  too  :  but  we  both  were  a  little 


MISS   EMILIA  WE8LET, — MRS.   HARPER.  303 

mistaken.  She  received  the  news  of  my  going  with  an  indifference  I 
did  not  expect.  Never  was  such  a  teacher,  as  I  may  justly  say  I  have 
been,  so  foolishly  lost,  so  unnecessarily  disobliged.  Had  she  paid  my 
last  year's  wages  but  the  day  before  Martinmas,  I  still  had  stayed  ;  in- 
stead of  that,  she  has  received  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  within 
these  three  months,  and  yet  never  would  spare  one  six  or  seven  pounds  for 
me,  which  I  am  sure  no  teacher  will  ever  bear.  «The  jest  is,  she  fan- 
cies I  never  knew  of  any  money  she  received ;  when,  alas,  she  can 
never  have  one  Jive  pounds  but  I  know  of  it.  I  have  so  satisfied  brother 
Sam,  that  he  wishes  me  good  success  at  Gainsbro',  and  says  he  can  no 
longer  oppose  my  resolution  ;  which  pleases  me  much,  for  I  would 
gladly  live  civilly  with  him,  and  friendly  with  you. 

"  I  have  a  fairer  prospect  at  Gainsbro'  even  than  I  could  hope  for  ; 
my  greatest  difficulty  will  be  want  of  money  at  my  first  entrance.  I 
shall  furnish  my  school  with  canvass,  worsteds,  silks,. &c,  &c,  and  am 
much  afraid  of  being  dipt  in  debt  at  first :  but  God's  will  be  done ! 
Troubles  of  that  kind  are  what  I  have  been  used  to.  Will  you  lend  me 
the  other  3/.  which  you  designed  for  me  at  Lady-day  ;  it  would  help 
me  much  :  you  will  if  you  can,  I  am  sure, — for  so  would  I  do  by  you. 
I  am  half  starved  with  cold,  which  hinders  me  from  writing  longer. 
Emery  is  no  better.  Mrs.  Taylor  and  Kitty  give  their  service.  Pray 
send  soon  to  me.  Kez  is  gone  home  for  good  and  all.  I  am  knitting 
brother  Charles  a  fine  purse ; — pray  my  love  to  him. 

"I  am,  dear  brother, your  loving  sister  and  constant  friend, 

"  EMILIA  WESLEY." 

As  Mrs.  Harper  makes  no  mention  of  her  husband  in  her  letter  to 
Mr.  Wesley  in  1750,  it  is  likely  he  was  dead  before  that  time.  She 
had  one  child,  whom  she  calls  Tetty :  but  whether  she  survived  her 
mother  we  do  not  know. 

Mrs.  Harper  is  represented  as  a  fine  woman  ;  of  a  noble,  yet  affable 
countenance,  and  of  a  kind  and  affectionate  disposition.  She  was  left 
without  property :  but  in  her  widowhood,  for  many  years  till  her  death, 
she  was  maintained  entirely  by  her  brothers,  and  lived  at  the  preachers' 
house  adjoining  to  the  chapel  in  West-street,  Seven  Dials,  London. 

Mr.  John  Wesley  has  been  stated  by  some  of  his  biographers  to  have 
had  no  family  affections.  This  is  any  thing  but  truth  :  almost  the  whole 
family  were  cast  upon  his  care  after  his  father's  death  ;  and  were  wholly, 
kindly,  and  affectionately,  supported  by  him.  A  proof  of  his  kindness 
is  seen  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Harper.  She  had  a  maid  to  whom  she  was 
greatly  attached.  This  woman  also  Mr.  Wesley  supported,  that  she 
might  attend  upon  her  mistress,  though  there  was  a  regular  servant 
whose  business  it  was  to  wait  on  the  family  in  that  house. 

Before  Mrs.  Harper  became  a  resident  in  the  preachers'  house  at 
West-street,  she  was  a  constant  attendant  on  the  ministry  of  her  bro- 
thers at  the  Old  Foundry,  by  which  she  considerably  profited.  Afler 
she  came  to  West-street  her  privileges  became  greater,  as  her  oppor- 
tunities of  attending  the  means  of  grace  were  multiplied;  and  for  this 
attendance  she  had  every  facility,  as  the  apartments  of  the  family  opened 
into  the  chapel  from  the  first  floor ;  and  by  throwing  up  some  sashes 


304  MIS8   EMILIA   WESLEY, — MRS.    HARPER. 

that  separated  the  house  and  the  chapel,  behind  the  pulpit,  every  con- 
venience was  afforded  for  hearing,  without  the  trouble  of  ever  going  out 
of  doors.  In  this  comfortable  retreat,  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  Church, 
Mrs.  Harper  terminated  her  earthly  existence  at  a  very  advanced  age, 
some  time  between  the  years  1770  and  1772. 

Though  she  survived  the  major  part  of  her  incomparable  memory, 
which  was  much  impaired  previously  to  her  death,  yet  her  peculiarly 
benevolent  and  even  temper  never  forsook  her.  That  her  mind  was 
highly  cultivated,  and  her  taste  exquisite,  we  have  some  proof  in  the 
assertion  of  her  brother,  Mr.  John  Wesley.  "  My  sister  Harper  was 
the  best  reader  of  Milton  I  ever  heard."  The  life  of  such  a  woman 
must  have  furnished  innumerable  anecdotes  of  the  most  instructive 
kind :  but,  alas  !  for  want  of  a  collector,  they  have  been  borne  away 
long  since  on  the  gale  that  never  returns,  and  buried  in  the  viewless 
regions  of  endless  oblivion. 

The  following  nervous  lines,  addressed  to  her  some  time  before  her 
marriage,  were  written  by  her  sister,  Mrs.  Wright : — 

My  fortunes  often  bid  me  flee 
So  light  a  thing  as  poetry : 
But  stronger  inclination  draws, 
To  follow  wit  and  nature's  laws. — 
Virtue,  form,  and  wit,  in  thee 
Move  in  perfect  harmony  : 
For  thee  my  tuneful  voice  I  '11  raise, 
For  thee  compose  my  softest  lays  ; 
My  youthful  muse  shall  take  her  flight, 
And  crown  thy  beauteous  head  with  radiant  beams  of  light. 

True  wit  and  sprightly  genius  shine 
In  every  turn,  in  every  line : — 
To  these,  O  skilful  Nine,  annex 
The  native  sweetness  of  my  sex  ; 
And  that  peculiar  talent  let  me  show, 
Which  Providence  Divine  doth  oft  bestow 
On  spirits  that  are  high,  with  fortunes  that  are  low. 

Thy  virtues  and  thy  graces  all, 
How  simple,  free,  and  natural ! 
Thy  graceful  form  with  pleasure  I  survey ; 
It  charms  the  eye, — the  heart,  away. — 
Malicious  fortune  did  repine, 
To  grant  her  gifts  to  worth  like  thine  ! 

To  all  thy  outward  majesty  and  grace, 
To  all  the  blooming  features  of  thy  face, 
To  all  the  heavenly  sweetness  of  thy  mind, 
A  noble,  generous,  equal  soul  is  joined, 
By  reason  polished,  and  by  arts  refined. 
Thy  even,  steady  eye  can  see 
Dame  fortune  smile,  or  frown,  at  thee; 
At  every  varied  change  can  say,  It  moves  not  me ! 

Fortune  has  fixed  thee  in  a  place 
Debarred  of  wisdom,  wit,  and  grace. 
High  births  and  virtue  equally  they  scorn, 
As  asses  dull  on  dunghills  born  : 


MISS   MART   WESLEY, — MRS.    WHITELAMB.  305 

Impervious  as  the  stones  their  heads  are  found  , 
Their  rage  and  hatred  steadfast  as  the  ground. 
With  these  unpolished  wights  thy  youthful  days 
Glide  .I/me  and  dull,  and  nature's  lamp  decays : 
O  what  a  lamp  is  hid,  'midst  such  a  sordid  race ! 

But  tho'  thy  brilliant  virtues  are  obscured, 
And  in  a  noxious  irksome  dm  immur'd  ; 
My  numbers  shall  thy  trophies  rear, 
And  lovely  as  she  is,  my  Emily  appear. 
Still  thy  transcendent  praise  I  will  rehearse, 
And  form  this  faint,  description  into  verse; 
And  when  the  poet's  head  lies  low  in  clay, 
Thy  name  shall  shine  in  worlds  which  never  can  decay. 

Wroote  was  the  place  of  which  Mrs.  Wright  speaks  so  degradulgly ; 
and  on  which  her  brother  Samuel  wrote  a  mock  heroic  poem,  which  he 
inscribed  to  his  sister  Hetty.  The  parsonage  house  at  that  place  he 
thus  describes : — 

The  house  is  good,  and  strong,  and  clean, 
Tho'  there  no  battlements  are  seen, 
But  humble  roof  of  thatch,  I  ween, 

Low  rooms  from  rain  to  cover. 
Where  safe  from  poverty,  (sore  ill !) 
All  may  live  happy  if  they  will, 
As  any  that  St.  James's  fill, 

Th'  Escurial,  or  the  Louvre. 

What  happiness!  then  to  be  driven 
Where  powers  of  saving  may  be  given ! 
To  hope  for  unmolested  heaven 

While  here  on  earth — too  soon  is  : 
But  this  is  certain,  if  you  're  wise, 
Wroot*  is  the  seat  of  paradise, 
As  much  as  any  place  that  lies 

On  earth  beside  the  moon  is. 

'Tis  true  no  fairy  lands  are  there ; 
No  spring  to  flourish  all  the  year  ; 
No  bushes  that  perfumes  will  bear, 

Flow'rs,  fruits,  together  springing  ; 
Where  Phoebus,  with  perpetual  beams, 
Glitters  from  gently  gliding  streams, 
And  nymphs  are  lull'd  to  pleasing  dreams 

By  philomela  singing. 

There  was  scarcely  a  bush  in  the  place ;  for  Wroote  was  situated  in 
the  low  levels  of  Lincolnshire,  and  often  covered  with  water,  and  the 
produce  of  the  ground  swept  away ! 


MISS  MARY  WESLEY,— MRS.  WHITELAMB. 

MARY  WESLEY  stands  the  third  on  the  list  of  the  grown  up  children 
of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley.  Through  affliction,  and  probably  some 
mismanagement  in  her  nurse,  she  became  considerably  deformed  in  her 
body  ;  and  her  growth  in  consequence  was  much  stinted,  and  her  health 
injured :  but  all  written  and  oral  testimony  concurs  in  the  statement 

39 


306  MISS  MARY  WESLEY, — MRS.   WHITELAMB. 

that  her  face  was  exquisitely  beautiful,  and  was  a  fair  and  very  legible 
index  to  a  mind  and  disposition  almost  angelic.  Her  humble,  obliging, 
even,  and  amiable  disposition  made  her  the  favourite  and  delight  of 
the  whole  family.  Mr.  John  and  Mr.  Charles  Wesley  frequently  spoke 
of  her,  and  ever  with  the  most  tender  respect ;  and  her  sister  Hetty,  no 
mean  judge  of  character,  with  whom  she  was  an  especial  favourite,  spoke 
and  wrote  of  her  as  one  of  the  most  exalted  of  human  characters. 

She  married,  with  the  high  approbation  of  all  the  family,  Mr.  John 
Whitelamb,  of  whom  some  mention  has  already  been  made,  and  whose 
history  it  is  necessary  to  pursue  a  little  farther.  He  was  the  son  of 
parents  at  that  time  in  very  low  circumstances,  and  was  put  to  a  cha- 
rity school  at  Wroote,  superintended  by  the  Rev.  John  Romley ;  of 
whom  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  months, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  S.  Wesley,  sen.,  he  learned  to  read, 
write,  and  speak  the  Greek  language  with  facility  and  considerable 
elegance. 

I  have  these  particulars  in  a  Greek  epistle  to  Mr.  Charles  Wesley, 
now  lying  before  me,  written  in  the  year  1732.  Mr.  Romley  studied 
divinity  under  S.  Wesley,  sen. ;  graduated  at  Lincoln  College,  Oxford  ; 
and  was  for  a  time  the  curate  of  Mr.  S.  Wesley,  (I  believe  at  Wroote,) 
who  had  given  him  the  first  part  of  his  education,  and  to  whom  he  was 
for  some  time  amanuensis.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Gentleman's  So- 
ciety at  Spalding ;  and  in  1730  presented  to  that  society  an  "  account 
of  the  manors,  villages,  seats,  and  church  of  Althorp,  in  Lincolnshire." 
This  society  was  founded  at  Spalding,  in  Lincolnshire,  in  the  year  1710, 
by  .Maurice  Johnson,  Esq.,  of  the  Inner  Temple. 

Of  this  society  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  sen.,  became  a  member,  January 
9,  1723 ;  and  his  son  Samuel  was  elected  a  member,  September  18, 
1729. — See  the  history  of  it  in  Nichol's  Literary  Anecdotes,  vol.  vi. 

It  is  likely  that  Mr.  Romley  recommended  young  Whitelamb  to  Mr. 
Wesley's  notice,  as  a  lad  of  promising  abilities ;  for  we  find  that  Mr. 
Wesley  took  him  to  his  house  ;  that  he  became  his  amanuensis  in  the 
place  of  Mr.  Romley  ;  designed  the  plates  for  Mr.  Wesley's  Disserta- 
tions on  the  Book  of  Job ;  and  engraved  several  of  them  with  his  own 
hand. 

Under  the  care  of  the  rector  of  Epworth,  he  obtained  a  sufficient 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  to  enter  the  university ;  and  at  the 
expense,  chiefly  of  Mr.  Wesley's  family,  then  indeed  in  very  low  cir- 
cumstances, he  was  maintained  at  Lincoln  College,  Oxford,  where  he 
obtained  his  education  gratis  under  Mr.  John  Wesley,  then  a  fellow  of 
that  college.  In  the  preceding  memoirs  we  have  met  with  this  young 
man  frequently ;  especially  in  the  letters  of  the  rector  of  Epworth,  and 
of  Mrs.  Wesley. 

He  suffered  great  privations  in  order  to  acquire  a  sufficiency  of  learn- 
ing to  pass  through  the  university,  and  obtain  orders.  It  is  in  reference 
to  this,  that  Mrs.  Wesley  calls  him  "  poor  starveling  Johnny."  So  low 
were  his  circumstances  that  he  could  not  procure  himself  clothes,  and 
could  not  purchase  a  gown  when  ordained.  In  every  respect  the  Wes- 
ley family  divided  with  him  according  to  their  power  ;  and  by  his  humble 
and  upright  conduct,  he  did  honour  to  himself,  and  repaid  their  kindness, 


MISS  MART  WESLET, — MRS.  HARPER.  307 

When  he  got  orders,  Mr.  Wesley  made  him  his  curate  in  Wroote ;  and 
having  engaged  Miss  Mary  Wesley's  affections,  they  were  married,  and 
Mr.  Wesley  gave  up  to  him  the  living  of  Wroote,.  which  he  petitioned 
the  lord  chancellor  to  confirm  ;  as  that  living,  as  well  as  Epworth,  was 
in  the  gift  of  the  crown  ;  and  he  was  promoted  to  it  by  the  chancellor 
on  Feb.  9,  1734.  See  the  petition  to  the  chancellor,  and  the  high 
character  given  of  this  young  man,  in  the  life  of  the  rector  of  Epworth. 

But  it  appears  that  he  afterward  swerved  from  the  simplicity  of  the 
Gospel,  fell  into  doubts  concerning  the  truth  of  Divine  revelation,  and 
at  last  became  a  deist  !  I  find  no  particulars  of  his  reconversion :  but 
that  it  did  take  place  I  infer  from  a  note  by  Mr.  John  Wesley,  on  a 
letter  of  his,  printed  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Arminian  Magazine,  con- 
taining the  following  passage  :  "  To  be  frank,  I  cannot  but  look  upon 
your  doctrines  as  of  ill  consequence.  Consequence  I  say ;  for,  take 
them  nakedly  in  themselves,  nothing  seems  more  innocent,  nay  good 
and  holy.  Suppose  we  grant  that  in  you  and  the  rest  of  the  leaders, 
who  are  men  of  sense  and  discernment,  what  is  called  the  seal  and 
testimony  of  the  Spirit  is  something  real;  yet  I  have  great  reason  to 
think,  that  in  the  generality  of  your  followers,  it  is  merely  the  effect 
of  a  heated  imagination." — September  2,  1742.  The  note  is,  "  No 
wonder  he  should  think  so  ;  for  at  that  time,  and  for  some  years  after, 
he  did  not  believe  the  Christian  revelation."  From  which  it  appears, 
that  some  years  after  he  was  brought  back  to  the  Christian  faith.  Mr. 
Southey  seems  to  doubt  of  his  ever  having  been  a  deist :  but  surely 
Mr.  Wesley's  testimony  is  sufficient  on  this  point,  to  whom,  Mr. 
Whitelamb  says  he  had  opened  his  ivhole  mind. 

Mr.  Wesley  knew  him  to  have  been  a  deist,  though  in  other  respects 
an  amiable  man  ;  and  he  produced  his  deism  as  the  reason,  and  at  the 
same  time  an  excuse,  for  his  believing  that  all  pretensions  to  experi- 
mental religion  were  the  effect  of  a  heated  imagination. 

Mr.  Romley  was  not  so  mindful  of  his  obligations  to  the  Wesley 
family.  On  September  6,  1742,  when  Mr.  Wesley  visited  Epworth, 
he  offered  to  assist  Mr.  Romley,  who  was  then  curate,  by  either  preach- 
ing or  reading  prayers  :  but  the  gentleman  refused  to  let  him  do  either, 
and  went  immediately  and  preached  a  sermon  against  enthusiasm  !  In 
the  evening  Mr.  Wesley  preached  in  the  church  yard,  standing  on  the 
tomb  of  his  father.  Mr.  Whitelamb  was  in  the  congregation,  and  wrote 
to  him  the  following  letter  a  few  days  after;  which,  because  it  is  so 
creditable  to  his  feelings,  and  to  the  sense  he  still  retained  of  the  many 
favours  which  he  had  received  from  him  and  from  his  family,  I  shall 
insert : — 

"  June  11,  1742. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER, — I  saw  you  at  Epworth  on  Tuesday  evening. 
Fain  would  I  have  spoken  with  you,  but  that  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  to 
know  how  to  address  or  behave. 

'*  Your  way  of  thinking  is  so  extraordinary  that  your  presence  creates 
an  awe,  as  if  you  were  an  inhabitant  of  another  world.  God  grant  you 
and  your  followers  may  always  have  entire  liberty  of  conscience. — Will 
not  you  allow  others  the  same  ? 


308  MISS  MARY  WHSLEY, MRS.  WHITELAMB. 

"  Indeed,  I  cannot  think  as  you  do,  any  more  than  I  can  help  ho- 
nouring and  loving  you.  Dear  sir,  will  you  credit  me  ? — I  retain  the 
highest  veneration  and  affection  for  you.  The  sight  of  you  moves  me 
strangely.  My  heart  overflows  with  gratitude  :  I  feel  in  a  higher 
degree  all  that  tenderness  and  yearning  of  bowels,  with  which  I  am 
affected  toward  every  branch  of  Mr.  Wesley's  family.  I  cannot  refrain 
from  tears  when  I  reflect, — this  is  the  man,  who  at  Oxford  was  more 
than  a  father  to  me ;  this  is  he  whom  I  have  heard  expound,  or  dispute 
publicly,  or  preach  at  St.  Mary's  with  such  applause ; — and,  O  that  I 
should  ever  add,  whom  I  have  lately  heard  preach  at  Epworth !  (on 
his  father's  tombstone.) 

"  I  am  quite  forgot.  None  of  the  family  ever  honour  me  with  a  line ! 
Have  I  been  ungrateful  ?  I  appeal  to  sister  Patty,  I  appeal  to  Mr. 
Ellison,  whether  I  have  or  no.  I  have  been  passionate,  fickle,  a  fool : 
but  I  hope  I  shall  never  be  ungrateful. 

"  Dear  sir,  is  it  in  my  power  to  serve  or  oblige  you  any  way?  Glad 
I  should  be  that  you  would  make  use  of  me.  God  open  all  our  eyes, 
and  tead  us  into  truth  wherever  it  be! 

"JoHN  WHITELAMB." 

His  wife  Mary  did  not  long  survive  her  marriage.  She  died  in  child- 
bed of  her  first  child.  How  all  the  family  could  quite  have  forgotten 
Mr.  Whitelamb  I  cannot  tell.  There  must  have  been  something  im- 
proper in  his  conduct  :  indeed,  he  seems  to  hint  at  this  in  the  above 
letter,  "  /  have  been  passionate,  fickle,  a  fool ;" — and  in  one  of  the  2d 
Sept.  in  the  same  year,  1742,  to  Charles,  he  writes,  "  J.  Whitelamb 
was  never  either  ungrateful,  or  vicious  ;  though  by  the  heat  of  youthful 
blood,  and  tvant  of  experience  in  the.  icorld,  he  has  been  betrayed  into 
very  great  follies."  The  Mr.  Ellison  mentioned  above  was  the  hus- 
band of  Susanna  Wesley ;  and  Patty  was  Mrs.  Hall,  both  of  whom 
will  be  mentioned  in  their  proper  places. 

That  Mr.  Wesley  still  felt  a  parental  affection  and  anxiety  for  his  old 
pupil,  Mr.  Whitelamb,  and  especially  in  reference  to  his  eternal  interests, 
will  appear  from  the  following  extract  of  one  of  his  letters  to  Mrs. 
Woodhouse  of  Epworth,  in  answer  to  one  which  that  lady  had  written, 
giving  an  account  of  Mr.  Whitelamb's  death  : — 

"  Ocl  4,  1769. 

" How  long  is  it  since  Mr.  Whitelamb  died  ?    What  disease 

did  he  die  of?  Did  he  lie  ill  for  any  time?  Do  you  know  any  circum- 
stances preceding  or  attending  his  death  ?  O,  why  did  he  not  die  forty 
years  ago,  while  he  knew  in  whom  he  had  believed  !  Unsearchable  are 
the  counsels  of  God,  and  his  ways  past  finding  out. 

"  JOHN  WESLEY." 

The  Whitelamb  family  have  been  long  very  respectable  in  Lincoln- 
shire, and  particularly  at  Wroote,  where  one  of  them  succeeded  to  the 
pastoral  charge  in  that  parish ;  and  was  remarkable  for  his  various 
learning,  and  especially  for  his  great  skill  in  mathematics. 

As  for  the  husband  of  Miss  Mary  Wesley,  we  may  charitably  hope 
from  his  sound  education,  and  his  long-tried  piety,  that  whatever  doubts 
might  for  a  time  have  obscured  his  views  of  the  sacred  records,  and 


MISS  MARY  WESLEY, — BIR8.  WII1TEJ.AMB.  309 

paralyzed  his  religious  feelings  and  experience,  his  former  principles 
regained  their  influence  and  ascendency,  and  that  he  died  in  the  faith 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  verses  to  Mrs.  Whitelamb's  memory,  with  her  epitaph,  com- 
posed by  her  sister  Wright,  I  think  it  proper  to  subjoin ;  from  which 
we  learn  that  she  was  a  most  steady  and  affectionate  friend  ;  was  deeply 
devoted  to  God  ;  full  of  humility  and  goodness  ;  and  diligent  in  all  the 
duties  of  life. 

But  she  was  a  Wesley ;  and  in  that  singular  family  excellencies  of 
all  kinds  were  to  be  found,  and  the  female  part  were  as  conspicuous  as 
the  in  a  Ir. 

In  the  following  lines,  which  are  full  of  mind  and  feeling,  we  shall 
find  allusion  to  the  source  whence  the  miseries  of  Mrs.  Wright's  life 
proceeded.  These  will  be  considered  at  large  in  the  account  of  herself. 

TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  MRS.  MARY  WHITELAMB. 

BY  HER  SISTER,  MRS.  WRIGHT. 

IP  blissful  spirits  condescend  to  know, 

And  hover  round  what  once  they  loved  below ; 

Maria!  gentlest  excellence  !  attend 

To  her,  who  glories  to  have  called  thee  friend  .' 

Remote  in  merit,  tho'  allied  in  blood,  5 

Unworthy  I,  and  thou  divinely  good ! 

Accept,  blest  shade,  from  me  these  artless  lays, 

Who  never  could  unjustly  blame,  or  praise. 

How  thy  economy  and  sense  outweighed 

The  finest  wit  in  utmost  pomp  display'd,  10 

Let  others  sing,  while  I  attempt  to  paint 

The  godlike  virtues  of  the  friend  and  saint. 

With  business  and  devotion  never  cloy'd, 
No  moment  of  thy  life  pass'd  unemployed, 

Well  natured  mirth,  matured  discretion  joined,  15 

Constant  attendants  of  the  virtuous  mind. 
From  earliest  dawn  of  youth,  in  thee  well  known, 
The  saint  sublime  and  finished  Christian  shone. 
Yet  would  not  grace  one  grain  of  pride  allow, 

Or  cry,  "  Stand  off,  I'm  holier  than  thou."  20 

A  worth  so  singular  since  time  began, 
But  one  surpassed,  and  He  was  more  than  man. 
When  deep  immers'd  in  griefs  beyond  redress, 
And  friends  and  kindred  heightened  my  distress, 
And  with  relentless  efforts  made  me  prove  25 

Pain,  grief,  despair,  and  wedlock  without  love  ; 
My  soft  Maria  could  alone  dissent, 
O'erlook'd  the  fatal  vow,  and  mourn'd  the  punishment ! 
Condoled  the  ill,  admitting  no  relief, 

With  such  infinitude  of  pitying  grief,  30 

That  all  who  could  not  my  demerit  see, 
Mistook  her  wond'rous  lore  for  worth  in  me  ; 
No  toil,  reproach,  or  sickness  could  divide 
The  tender  mourner  from  her  Stella's  side ; 

My  fierce  inquietude,  and  madd'ning  care,  35 

Skilful  to  soothe,  or  resolute  to  share  ! 

Ah  me !  that  Heaven  has  from  this  bosom  tore 
My  angel  friend,  to  meet  on  earth  no  more  . 
That  this  indulgent  spirit  soars  away, 
Leaves  but  a  situ  insentient  mans  of  clay  ;  40 


310  MIS8  MARY  WESLEY, — MRS.  WHITELAMB. 

E'er  Stella  could  discharge  the  smallest  part 

Of  all  she  owed  to  such  immense  desert ; 

Or  could  repay  with  ought  but  feeble  praise 

The  sole  companion  of  her  joyless  days ! 

Nor  was  thy  form  unfair,  tho'  Heaven  confined  45 

To  scanty  limits  thy  exalted  mind. 

Witness  thy  brow  serene,  benignant,  clear, 

That  none  could  doubt  transcendent  truth  dwelt  there  ; 

Witness  the  taintless  whiteness  of  thy  skin, 

Pure  emblem  of  the  purer  soul  within  :  50 

That  soul,  which  tender,  unassuming,  mild, 

Through  jetty  eyes  with  tranquil  sweetness  smil'd. 

But,  ah  !  could  fancy  paint,  or  language  speak, 

The  roseate  beauties  of  thy  lip  or  cheek, 

Where  nature's  pencil,  leaving  art  no  room,  55 

Touch'd  to  a  miracle  the  vernal  bloom. 

(Lost  though  thou  art)  in  Stella's  deathless  line 

Thy  face  immortal  as  thy  fame  should  shine. 

To  soundest  prudence  (life's  unerring  guide) 

To  love  sincere,  religion  without  pride :  60 

To  friendship  perfect  in  a  female  mind 
Which  I  nor  hope,  nor  wish,  on  earth  to  find  : 
To  mirth,  (the  balm  of  care,)  from  lightness  free, 
Unblemish'd  faith,  unwearied  industry. 

To  every  charm  and  grace  combin'd  in  you,  65 

Sister,  and  friend  ! — a  long,  a  last  adieu ! 

MH.  JOHN  WESLEY'S  ALTERATIONS. 

Line  1.  Happy  spirits  are  allowed. — Blissful  spirits  condescend. 

Line  6.  The?  worthless  I. — Unworthy  I. 

Line  7.  Dear. — Blest. 

Line  8.  Durst. — Could. 

Sixteen  lines  are  entirely  left  out,  beginning — From  earliest  dawn, 

Lines  31,  32,  35,  and  36,  are  entirely  left  out. 

Line  37.  Torn.— Tore. 

Line  33.  The  dearest  friend  whom  I  must  ever  mourn. 

Lines  39,  40,  left  out. 

Line  45.  Pleasing  thy  face  and  form. — Nor  was  thy  form  unfair. 

Line  46.  Extensive. — Exalted. 

Line  49.  Lustre. — Whiteness. 

Line  50.  Bright,  brighter. — Pure,  purer. 

Line  51.  Easy  and  affected. — Tender,  unassuming. 

Line  52.  Cheerful. — Tranquil. 

The  four  next  lines  are  left  out,  beginning — But  ah !  could  fancy  paint. 

Line  60.   Void  of.— Without. 

Line  62.  Which  I  can  never  hope  again. — Nor  hope,  nor  wish  on  earth. 

Line  64.  To  steadfast  truth. — Unblemish'd  faith. 

Line  66.  Long  and  last  adieu. 

A  copy  of  these  verses  was  published  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
for  December,  1736,  vol.  vi,  p.  740,  with  the  following  inscription  : — 
"  To  the  memory  of  Mrs.  MARY  WHITELAMB,  daughter  of  the  late  Rev. 
Mr.  WESLEY,  rector  of  Epworth  and  Wroote."  From  it  I  have  reco- 
vered a  few  stanzas  omitted  in  the  MS. ;  otherwise  it  is  very  imperfect, 

EPITAPH  ON  MRS.  MARY  WHITELAMB. 

BT  H£R  SISTER,  MRS.  WRIGHT. 

IF  highest  worth  in  beauty's  bloom 
Exempted  mortals  from  the  tomb; 
We  had  not  round  this  sacred  bier 
Mourned  the  sweet  babe  and  mother  here, 

• 

v' 


MISS   ANNE   WE8LET, MRS.    LAMBERT.  311 

Where  innocence  from  harm  is  blest, 
And  the  meek  sufferer  is  at  rest ! 
Fierce  pangs  she  here  without  complaint, 
Till  Heaven  relieved  the  finished  saint. 

If  savage  bosoms  felt  her  wo, 
(Who  lived  and  died  without  a  foe,) 
How  should  I  mourn,  or  how  commend, 
My  tenderest,  dearest, firmest  friend? 
Most  pious,  meek,  resign'd  and  chaste, 
With  every  social  virtue  graced ! 

If,  reader,  thou  would'st  prove,  and  know, 
The  ease  she  found  not  here  below ; 
Her  bright  example  points  the  way 
To  perfect  bliss,  and  endless  day. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  recover  any  thing  written  either  in  prose  or 
verse  by  Mrs.  Whitelamb ;  and  without  this  short  and  imperfect  me- 
moir, her  name  would  have  been  soon  consigned  to  oblivion. 


MISS  ANNE  WESLEY,— MRS.  LAMBERT. 

OF  this  lady  I  find  no  record  among  the  family  papers,  nor  from  any 
of  the  survivors  in  any  of  its  branches,  buOhat  she  was  married  to  a 
gentleman  of  the  name  of  John  Lambert,  of  whom  I  know  but  this  ; 
that  he  was  a  land-surveyor  in  Epworth.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lambert  are 
the  persons  probably  meant  by  Mr.  Wesley  in  his  Journal,  under  the 
date  Tuesday,  June  8th,  1742,  where  he  says,  "I  walked  to  Hibald- 
stone,  about  ten  miles  from  Epworth,  to  see  my  brother  and  sister :" 
but  he  mentions  no  name. 

On  her  marriage  her  brother  Samuel  presented  to  Mr.  Lambert  and 
her  the  following  verses : — 

TO  MRS.  LAMBERT, 

ON  HER  MARRIAGE. 

No  fiction  fine  shall  guide  my  hand, 

But  artless  truth  the  verse  supply ; 
Which  all  with  ease  may  understand, 

But  none  be  able  to  deny. 

Nor,  sister,  take  the  care  nmiss 
y 

To 


Let  love  your  reason  never  blind, 
To  dream  of  paradise  below ; 

For  sorrows  must  attend  mankind, 
And  pain,  and  weariness,  and  wo ! 

Though  still  from  mutual  love,  relief 
In  all  conditions  may  be  found, 

It  cures  at  once  the  common  grief, 
And  softens  the  severest  wound. 


MISS   SUSANNA   WESLEV, — MRS.    ELLISON. 

Thro'  diligence  and  well  earned  gain, 

In  growing  plenty  may  you  live! 
And  each  in  piety  obtain 

Repose  that  riches  cannot  give ! 

If  children  e'er  should  bless  the  bed, 

O  rather  let  them  infants  die, 
Than  live  to  grieve  the  hoary  head, 

And  make  the  aged  father  sigh ! 

Still  duteous,  let  them  ne'er  conspire 

To  make  their  parents  disagree ; 
No  son  be  rival  to  his  sire, 

No  daughter  more  beloved  than  tliee ! 

Let  them  be  humble,  pious,  wise, 

Nor  higher  station  wish  to  know ; 
Since  only  those  deserve  to  rise, 

Who  live  contented  to  be  Imo. 

Firm  let  the  husband's  empire  stand, 

With  easy  but  unquestioned  sway ; 
May  HB  have  kindness  to  command, 

And  THOU  the  bravery  to  obey ! 

Long  may  he  give  thee  comfort,  long 

As  the  frail  knot  of  life  shall  hold ! 
More  than  a  father  when  thou  'rt  young, 

More  Jfcan  a  son  when  waxing  old. 

The  greatest  earthly  pleasure  try, 

Allowed  by  Providence  Divine ; 
Be  still  a  husband,  blest  as  I, 

And  thou  a  wife  as  good  as  mine  / 

There  is  much  good  sense,  and  piety,  and  suitable  advice,  in  these 
verses  ;  and  they  give  an  additional  testimony  to  the  domestic  happi- 
ness of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  their  author. 

We  have  to  regret,  that  of  Mrs.  Lambert,  her  husband,  and  their 
children,  if  they  had  any,  we  know  nothing  farther.  As  every  member 
of  this  family,  of  whom  we  have  any  memoirs,  has  afforded  us  lessons  of 
instruction  in  some  of  the  weightiest  concerns  of  life  ;  I  wish  the  above 
verses  in  the  hands  of  every  new-married  couple  in  the  kingdom. 


MISS  SUSANNA  WESLEY.-MRS.  ELLISON. 

I  HAVE  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  year  in  which  Susanna  Wesley 
was  born :  but  it  was  some  time  between  1700  and  1702,  as  in  the  list 
of  the  ten  children  she  stands  before  her  brother  John,  who  was  born 
in  1703.  Of  her  youth  I  find  little.  She  is  reported  to  have  been  good- 
natured,  very  facetious,  and  a  little  romantic,  but  behaved  herself  with 
the  strictest  moral  correctness.  She  married  Richard  Ellison,  Esq.,  a 
gentleman  of  good  family,  who  farmed  his  own  estate,  and  had  a  very 
respectable  establishment.  But  though  she  bore  him  several  children, 
the  marriage,  like  some  others  in  the  Wesley  family,  was  not  a  happy 
one.  She  had  a  mind  naturally  strong  and  vivacious,  and  well  refined 
by  a  good  education :  his  was  common,  coarse,  and  uncultivated,  mo- 


MISS 


WESLEY,  —  MRS.   WRIGHT.  315 


rose,  and  too  much  incline  ABEL  WESLEY.-MRS.  WRIGHT. 

happiness.  Unfitness  of  °d  also  Hetty,  and  by  her  brother  Samuel 
general  mars  the  marriage  umth  child  of  Samuel  and  Susanna  Wesley, 
happiness  and  contentment  are  survivors  :  but  she  was  probably  their 

Susan  was  much  beloved  byjral  had  died  in  infancy,  whose  names 
with  her  Mr.  Ellison,  for  a  time, 

What  little  domestic  happinessuch  proofs  of  strong  mental  powers 
but  finally  destroyed,  by  a  distress  with  the  utmost  care  and  diligence, 
their  dwelling  house,  by  which  it  anerly  directed,  and  bring  forth  cor- 
the  family  alone  escaped  with  their  liv 

scattered  among  different  relations,    on  were  crowned  with  success  ; 
I  cannot  learn  :  but  from  that  time    she  had  made  such  proficiency  in 
with  her  husband  !     She  went  tcould  read  the  Greek  text. 
of  her  children  who  were  esthetic  genius,  which,  though  common  to  the 
from  her  brother  John,  thn  in  her  with  peculiar  splendour,  and  was 
lison  us«d  many  means  tdge  of  the  fine  models  of  antiquity. 
either  to  see  him,  or  to  ha*  was  gay  and  sprightly  ;  full  of  mirth,  good 

As  he  knew  her  affectirihe  indulged  this  disposition  so  much,  that  it 
to  Lincolnshire,  he  adv  great  uneasiness  to  her  parents  ;  because  she 
her  ear,  she  immediately  n  betrayed  into  little  inadvertencies,  which, 
of  respect  to  his  remains  :  themselves,  showed  that  her  mind  was  not 
returned  ;  and  no  persuasion"  that  fancy,  noypeason,  often  dictated  that 

It  does  not  appea^n  she  thought  proper  to  pursue.     A  spirit  of  this 

of  this  aversion  sous  disposition  ;  and  is  rarely  connected  with  a  sufii- 

pursue  it  by  copice  and  discretion  to  prevent  it  from  injuring  itself,  and 

traced  and  well  s.     She  appears  to  have  had  many  suitors  ;  but  they 

.    nesley  Ellison,  jf  the  airy  and  thoughtless  class,  and  ill  suited  to  make 

1.  John  Ellison  useful  in  a  matrimonial  life. 

excise,  or  custoirthose  proposed  matches,  in  very  early  life,  I  believe 

loth  Ellison,  who  s  allude,  which  I  find  in  her  father's  hand  writing, 

Mr.  J.  Wesley  sho.  J.  Wesley  —  "  Hetty's  letter  to  her  mother"  — 

which  her  impruder..      _ 

ness,  and  giving  her  au*  ,  once  in  ^  ew,n      , 

her  to  true  happiness  ;—  ai  ;„  plainly  shown, 

was  a  member  of  a  disst.    'er  come  after. 

ducted  herself  as  a  useful  me1"1'™0*"  need» 

tian.     He  also  left  a  son  name^kd'^eerr,Plead 

able  man  in  good  circumstanc 

Bristol.  man  >n  tne  profession  of  the  law  paid 

2.  Jinn  Ellison  married  Mr.  1  <1€  became  greatly  attached  ;  and  a 
fugee.—  He  left  one  son,  Peter  Lit  '  Place>  when  her  father  interfered, 
school;  took  orders  in  the  Church    Vantage  of  the  gentleman,  which 
living  of  Lultencorth,  in  Leicestershu  ncipled  lawyer."     This  interfe- 
religious  man,  and  has  left  a  family  in  com\he  refused  to  give  him  up, 
son  is  a  clergyman  of  good  character.—  TfhT  nts>  consent  5  and  had 
second  marriage  with  a  gentleman  named  Gaunt,  wld  in  a11  Probabll'ty 
widow.     It  was  in  the  house  of  this  Mrs.  Gaunt,  that0PPos.#°n.  h? 
formerly  Susanna  Wesley,  died  in  London.    The  year  of  "this  second* 
marriage  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 

3.  Deborah  Ellison  married  another  French  refugee,  Mr.  Pierre 

40 


312 


•*. 

MISS   SUSANNA   WESLEV, SIRS.    J 

Thro'  diligence  and  well  earned  gi 

In  growing  plenty  may  you  hvefc  yet  aljve.     Botn 
And  each  in  piety  obtain 

Repose  that  riches  cannot  f 

.enty-seven,  leaving  two  orphan 
If  children  e'er  should  bIepOne,  an  excellent  warm-hearted 

O  rather  let  them  mfarU     minister<     This  excellent  COU- 
Than  live  to  grieve  the  IK  6.  _     .. 

And  make  the  aged  f«'n  in  the  East  Indies,  another  an 
rs,  one  of  whom  is  lately  married. 
Still  duteous,  let  them 

No  son  be  riva^o^"63^6)''8  grandchildren  are  alive  ;  the 
No  daughter  mo.Mrs.  Biam,  and  Mr.  Collet,  brother  of 
tended  to  traduce  the  character  of  Mr. 


n  w™S  ™d<*  **  highest  obligations. 
Since  only  those  deserve  U,able  to  add,  that  all  his  forgeries 
Who  live  contented  to  be  U  repented  of  those  calumnies 

.  iy  held  them  in  abhorrence. 
Firm  let  the  husband's  empire  sU<  x  ,.  .  . 

With  easy  but  unquestioned  s.>p-vre,)  was  a  fine-looking 
May  HE  have  kindness  to  common  abundance*;**  wit.  She 

And  THOU  the  bravery  to  obey !  latter  years  by  Mr.  John 

Long  may  he  give  thee  comfort,  !**"«••      i         nr 

As  the  frail  knot  of  life  shall  h^ie,  Matthew  Weslty,  after 
More  than  a  father  when  thou '  e  in  Lincoln  as  a  teacher  ; 

More  J^n  a  ton  when  wa:  ,shOrough,  assisted  her  in  her 
The  greatest  earthly  pleasure  try,  ^r  sent  that  beautiful 

Allowed  by  Providence  Divine;  will  find  entered 

Be  still  a  husband,  blest  as  I, 

And  thou  a  wife  as  good  as  mine .' 

There  is  much  good  sense,  and  piety,  and  suitable  ? 
verses  ;  and  they  give  an  additional  testimony  to  the  t 
ness  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley,  their  author. 

We  have  to  regret,  that  of  Mrs.  Lambert,  her  hipeople  called  Me- 
children,  if  they  had  any,  we  know  nothing  farther,  connected  order  of 
of  this  family,  of  whom  we  have  any  memoirs,  has^fe,  on  the  17th  June, 
instruction  in  some  of  the  weightiest  concerns  rjn  the  City  Road,  March 
verses  in  the  hands  of  every  new-married  cage,  and  the  sixty-fifth  of  his 


Rev.  Drc  Coke,  and  the  Rev. 
MISS  SUSANNA  WESLEY,-  -  ^ 

I  HAVE  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  *      °" 
was  born :  but  it  was  some  time  betw^8'  **mo- 
of  the  ten  children  she  stands  beforfoet  Laureat,  2  vols.  8vo. 
in  1703.  Of  her  youth  I  find  little.  jve  accounts  may  possess,  a  proper 
natured,  very  facetious,  and  a  litt'  a  desideratum  m  the  religious  world.* 
the  strictest  moral  correctness^     Ued  ^  two  biograj>hies>  whichhave  been  more 
gentleman  of  good  fami,Vit.led  "The  Life  of  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  A.  M.,  Fellow 
respectable  establish*ord  ;  in  which  are  included,  The  Life  of  his  Brother,  the  Rev. 
the  ma^'affe   !•"»  A.  M.,  &c,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Moore" — the  other  under  the.  fpl- 
.owing  tilled  The  Life  of  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  A.  M.,  sometime  Fellow  of  Lin- 
coln College,"  Oxford,  and  Founder  of  the  Methodist  Societies,  by  the  Rev.  Richard 
Watson,"  author  of  Theological  Institutes,  Theological  and  Biblical  Dictionary,  &c  i 
both  of  which  have  been  repubtished  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Press,  and  are  now 
on  sale  at  14  Crosby-street,  New-York. — ED.] 


MISS   HRTTY  WESLEY, — MRS.   WRIGHT.  315 

MISS  MEHETABEL  WESLEY,— MRS.  WRIGHT. 

JWehctabel  Wesley,  called  also  Hetty,  and  by  her  brother  Samuel 
sometimes  Kitty,  is  the  seventh  child  of  Samuel  and  Susanna  Wesley, 
as  they  stand  on  my  list  of  his  survivors  :  but  she  was  probably  their 
tenth  or  eleventh  child ;  for  several  had  died  in  infancy,  whose  names 
are  now  forgotten. 

Hetty  gave  from  her  infancy  such  proofs  of  strong  mental  powers 
as  led  her  parents  to  cultivate  them  with  the  utmost  care  and  diligence, 
that  they  might  be  extended,  properly  directed,  and  bring  forth  cor- 
responding fruits. 

The  pains  taken  with  her  education  were  crowned  with  success ; 
for  at  the  early  age  of  eight  years  she  had  made  such  proficiency  in 
the  learned  languages  that  she  could  read  the  Greek  text. 

She  had  naturally  a  fine,  poetic  genius,  which,  though  common  to  the 
whole  family,  shone  forth  in  her  with  peculiar  splendour,  and  was 
heightened  by  her  knowledge  of  the  fine  models  of  antiquity. 

From  h0r  childhood  she  was  gay  and  sprightly ;  full  of  mirth,  good 
huroour,  and  keen  wit.  She  indulged  this  disposition  so  much,  that  it 
was  said  to  have  given  great  uneasiness  to  her  parents ;  because  she 
was  in  consequence  often  betrayed  into  little  inadvertencies,  which, 
though  of  small  moment  in  themselves,  showed  that  her  mind  was  not 
under  proper  discipline  ;  and  that  fancy,  noypeason,  often  dictated  that 
line  of  conduct  which  she  thought  proper  to  pursue.  A  spirit  of  this 
kind  is  a  dangerous  disposition ;  and  is  rarely  connected  with  a  suffi- 
ciency of  prudence  and  discretion  to  prevent  it  from  injuring  itself,  and 
offending  others.  She  appears  to  have  had  many  suitors;  but  they 
were  generally  of  the  airy  and  thoughtless  class,  and  ill  suited  to  make 
her  either  happy  or  useful  in  a  matrimonial  life. 

To  some  of  those  proposed  matches,  in  very  early  life,  I  believe 
•the  following  lines  allude,  which  I  find  in  her  father's  hand  writing, 
•and  marked  by  Mr.  J.  Wesley — "  Hetty's  letter  to  her  mother" — 

•*"DEAR  MOTHER, — 

"You  were  once  in  the  ew'n, 
As  by  us  cakes  is  plainly  shown, 

Who  else  had  ne'er  come  after. 
Pray  speak  a  word  in  time  of  need, 
And  with  my  eour-look'd  father  plead 

For  your  distressed  daughter !" 

About  the  year  1724  a  gentleman  in  the  profession  of  the  law  paid 
his  addresses  to  her :  to  him  she  became  greatly  attached ;  and  a 
marriage  was  on  the  eve  of  taking  place,  when  her  father  interfered, 
having  heard  something  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  gentleman,  which 
fed  him  to  pronounce  him  "an  unprincipled  lawyer."  This  interfe- 
rence, however,  did  not  move  Hetty.  She  refused  to  give  him  up, 
though  not  inclined  to  marry  without  her  parents'  consent;  and  had 
he  been  equally  faithful  to  her,  the  connection  would  in  all  probability 
have  issued  in  marriage  :  but,  whether  offended  with  the  opposition  he 
met  with  from  the  family,  or  whether  through  fickleness,  he  in  fact 
remitted  his  assiduities,  and  at  last  abandoned  a  woman  who  would 
have  been  an  honour  to  the  first  man  in  the  land. 

The  matter  thus  terminating,  she  appears  to  have  done  what  many 


316  MISS  HETTY   WESLEY, MRS.   WRIGHT. 

others  in  similar  circumstances  have  done,  made  a  rash  vow,  either 
never  to  marry  another,  or  to  take  the  first  man  that  might  offer,  whose 
suit  her  parents  might  approve.  Which  of  these  formed  the  vow  I 
have  not  been  able  to  determine.  Mr.  Wright,  a  plumber  and  glazier, 
in  good  circumstances,  offered,  and  was  recommended  by  parental 
authority  :  and  as  her  parents  saw  that  her  mind  was  strongly  attached 
to  the  man  who  had  jilted  her,  in  order  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  a 
union  in  that  quarter,  her  father  urged  her  to  marry  Wright.  She 
found  him  to  be  a  man  utterly  unsuited  to  her  in  mind,  education,  man- 
ners, &c;  and  in  consequence  expressed  her  strong  disapprobation, 
and  earnestly  begged  that  parental  authority  might  not  be  used  to 
induce  her  to  adopt  a  measure  that  promised  no  comfort  to  her,  and 
might  prove  her  ruin.  Her  father  appears  to  have  been  inexorable  ; — 
she  was  doubly  bound  by  her  filial  duty,  and  her  vow. 

Mary,  of  all  her  sisters,  had  the  courage  to  counsel  her  rather  to 
break  that  vow  than  do  what  she  saw  would  most  infallibly  produce 
her  misery  through  life.  To  this  she  alludes  in  her  fine  lines  address- 
ed to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Mary  Whitelamb  : — 

"When  deep  immersed  in  griefs  beyond  redress, 
And  friends  and  kindred  heightened  my  distress ; 
And  by  relentless  efforts  made  me  prove 
Pain,  grief,  despair,  and  wedlock  without  love; 
My  soft  Marimtould  alone  dissent, 
O'erlook'd  the  fatal  vow,  and  mourned  the  punishment." 

But  this  ill-fated  marriage  took  place ;  and  if  unkiridness  of  treat- 
ment had  not  been  added  to  utter  unsuitableness  of  disposition,  her  lot 
would  have  been  less  grievous.  Mr.  Wright  did  not  know  the  value 
of  the  woman  he  had  espoused !  He  associated  with  low  dissolute 
company  ;  spent  his  evenings  from  home  ;  became  a  drunkard  ;  and,  by 
a  series  of  ill  management  and  ill  treatment,  broke  the  heart  of  his  wife. 

Wrhen  this  marriage  took  place  I  cannot  learn.  Dr.  Wrhitehead 
thinks  it  was  in  the  end  of  the  year  1725.  I  think  it  was  not  so  early, 
as  a  letter  which  I  shall  subjoin  written  in  1729,  seems  to  have  been 
sent  a  little  after  her  marriage.  That  she  was  almost  compelled  to 
marry  Mr.  Wright,  this  letter,  written  to  her  father,  I  think  plainly 
intimates.  I  cannot  suppress  it,  as  it  throws  the  proper  light  on  this 
hitherto  unexplained  unfortunate  transaction : — 

"July  3,  1729. 

"  HONOURED  SIR, — Though  I  was  glad  on  any  terms,  of  the  favour 
of  a  line  from  you  :  yet  I  was  concerned  at  your  displeasure  on  account 
of  the  unfortunate  paragraph,  which  you  are  pleased  to  say  waa  meant 
for  the  flower  of  my  letter,  but  which  was  in  reality  the  only  thing  I 
disliked  in  it  before  it  went.  I  wish  it  had  not  gone,  since  I  perceive 
it  gave  you  some  uneasiness. 

"  But  since  what  I  said  occasioned  some  queries,  which  I  should  be 
glad  to  speak  freely  about,  were  I  sure  that  the  least  I  could  say  would 
not  grieve  or  offend  you,  or  were  I  so  happy  as  to  think  like  you  in 
every  thing ;  I  earnestly  beg  that  the  little  I  shall  say  may  not  be 
offensive  to  you,  since  I  promise  to  be  as  little  witty  as  possible,  though 
I  can't  help  saying,  you  only  accuse  me  of  being  too  much  so ;  espe- 
cially these  late  years  past  I  have  been  pretty  free  from  that  scandal. 


MISS  HF.TTV  WESLEY, — MRS.   WRIGHT.  317 

"  You  ask  me,  *  what  hurt  matrimony  has  done  me  ?'  and  '  whether 
I  had  always  so  frightful  an  idea  of  it  as  I  have  now  ?'  Home  questions 
indeed !  and  I  once  more  beg  of  you  not  to  be  offended  at  the  least  I 
can  say  to  them,  if  I  say  any  thing. 

"  I  had  not  always  such  notions  of  wedlock  as  now :  but  thought 
that  where  there  was  a  mutual  affection  and  desire  of  pleasing,  some- 
thing near  an  equality  of  mind  and  person  ;  either  earthly  or  heavenly 
wisdom,  and  any  thing  to  keep  love  warm  between  a  young  couple, 
there  was  a  possibility  of  happiness  in  a  married  state  :  but  where  all, 
or  most  of  these,  were  wanting,  I  ever  thought  people  could  not  marry 
without  sinning  against  God  and  themselves. 

"  I  could  say  much  more :  but  would  rather  eternally  stifle  my 
sentiments  than  have  the  torment  of  thinking  they  agree  not  with 
yours. 

"  You  are  so  good  to  my  spouse  and  me,  as  to  say,  '  you  shall 
always  think  yourself  obliged  to  him  for  his  civilities  to  me.'  I  hope 
he  will  always  continue  to  use  me  better  than  I  merit  from  him  in  one 
respect. 

"I  think  exactly  the  same  of  my  marriage  as  I  did  before  it 
happened  :  but  though  I  would  have  given  at  least  one  of  my  eyes  for 
the  liberty  of  throwing  myself  at  your  feet  before  I  was  married  at  all; 
yet  since  it  is  past,  and  matrimonial  grievances  are  usually  irreparable, 
I  hope  you  will  condescend  to  be  so  far  of  my  opinion,  as  to  own, — 
that  since  upon  some  accounts  I  am  happier  than  I  deserve,  it  is  best 
to  say  little  of  things  quite  past  remedy ;  and  endeavour,  as  I  really 
do,  to  make  myself  more  and  more  contented,  though  things  may  not 
be  to  my  wish. 

"  You  say,  '  you  will  answer  this  if  you  like  it.'  Now  though  I  am 
sorry  to  occasion  your  writing  in  the  pain  I  am  sensible  you  do ;  yet  I 
must  desire  you  to  answer  it,  whether  you  like  it  or  not,  since  if  you  are 
displeased,  I  would  willingly  know  it ;  and  the  only  thing  that  could 
make  me  patient  to  endure  your  displeasure  is  your  thinking  I  deserve  it. 

"  Though  I  can't  justify  my  late  indiscreet  letter  which  made  me  say 
so  much  in  this ;  yet  I  need  not  remind  you  that  I  am  not  more  than 
human ;  and  if  the  calamities  of  life  (of  which  perhaps  I  have  my  share,) 
sometimes  wring  a  complaint  from  me,  I  need  tell  no  one,  that  though 
/  bear  I  must  feel  them.  And  if  you  cannot  forgive  what  I  have  said, 
I  sincerely  promise  never  more  to  offend  you  by  saying  too  much, 
which  (with  begging  your  blessing)  is  all  from 

"  Your  most  obedient  daughter, 

"MEHET.  WRIGHT." 

Here  we  see  the  impelling  cause  of  this  ill-fated  match ;  and  in  the 
following  address  to  her  husband,  the  powerful  operating  cause  of  her 
continual  chagrin  and  wretchedness  : — 

1  THE  ardent  lover  cannot  find 
A  coldness  in  his  fair  unkind, 
But  blaming  what  he  cannot  hate, 
He  mildly  chides  the  dear  ingrate ; 
And  tho'  despairing  of  relief, 
In  soft  complaining  vents  his  grief. 


318  MISS  HETTY  WESLEY, — MRS.   WRIGHT, 

2  Then  what  should  hinder  but  that  I, 
Impatient  of  my  wrongs,  may  try, 
By  saddest  softest  strains,  to  move 
My  wedded,  latest,  dearest  love. 
To  throw  his  cold  neglect  aside, 

And  cheer  once  more  his  injured  bride? 

3  O  thou  whom  sacred  rites  design'd 
My  guide,  and  husband  ever  kind, 
My  sovereign  master,  best  of  friends, 
On  whom  my  earthly  bliss  depends ; 
If  e'er  thou  didst  in  Hetty  see 
Aught  fair,  or  good,  or  dear  to  thee, 
If  gentle  speech  can  ever  move 

The  cold  remains  of  former  love, 
Turn  thee  at  last — my  bosom  ease, 
Or  tell  me  why  I  cease  to  please. 

4  Is  it  because  revolving  years, 
Heart-breaking  sighs,  and  fruitless  tears, 
Have  quite  deprived  this  form  of  mine 
Of  all  that  once  thou  fanciedst  fine  ? 

Ah  no !  what  once  allured  thy  sight 
Is  still  in  its  meridian  height. 
These  eyes  their  usual  lustre  show, 
When  uneclipsed  by  flowing  wo. 
Old  age  and  wrinkles  in  this  face 
As  yet  could  never  find  a  place : 
A  youthful  grace  informs  these  lines, 
Where  still  the  purple  current  shines ; 
Unless,  by  thy  ungentle  art, 
It  flies  to  aid  my  wretched  heart : 
Nor  does  this  slighted  bosom  show 
The  thousand  hours  it  spends  in  wo. 

5  Or  is  it  that,  oppressed  with  care, 

I  stun  with  loud  complaints  thine  ear, 
And  make  thy  home,  for  quiet  meant, 
The  seat  of  noise  and  discontent? 
Ah  no !  those  ears  were  ever  free 
From  matrimonial  melody : 
For  tho'  thine  absence  I  lament 
When  half  the  lonely  night  is  spent, 
Yet  when  the  watch  or  early  morn 
Has  brought  me  hopes  of  thy  return, 
I  oft  have  wiped  these  watchful  eyes, 
Concealed  my  cares,  and  curbed  my  sighs, 
In  spite  of  grief,  to  let  thee  see 
I  wore  an  endless  smile  for  thee. 

6  Had  I  not  practis'd  every  art 

T'  oblige,  divert,  and  cheer  thy  heart, 
To  make  me  pleasing  in  thine  eyes, 
And  turn  thy  house  to  paradise ; 
I  had  not  ask'd  "  Why  dost  thou  shun 
These  faithful  arms,  and  eager  run 
To  some  obscure,  unclean  retreat, 
With_/lend*  incarnate  glad  to  meet, 
The  vile  companions  of  thy  mirth, 
The  scum  and  refuse  of  the  earth : 
Who,  when  inspired  by  beer,  can  grin 
At  witless  oaths  and  jests  obscene, 
Till  the  most  learned  of  the  throng 
Begins  a  tale  of  ten  hours  long ; 


MISS  HETTY  WESLEY, — MRS.  WRIGHT.  319 

While  thou  in  raptures  with  stretched  jaws 
Crownest  each  joke  with  loud  applause  ?" 

7  Deprived  of  freedom,  health,  and  ease, 
And  rivall'd  by  such  things  as  these ; 
This  latest  effort  will  I  try, 

Or  to  regain  thy  heart,  or  die. 

Soft  as  I  am,  I'll  make  thee  see 

I  will  not  brook  contempt  from  thee ! 

8  Then  quit  the  shuffling  doubtful  sense, 
Nor  hold  me  longer  in  suspense  ; 
Unkind,  ungrateful  as  thou  art, 

Say,  must  I  ne'er  regain  thy  heart  ? 
Must  all  attempts  to  please  thee  prove 
Unable  to  regain  thy  lore  ? 

9  If  so,  by  truth  itself  I  swear, 
The  sad  reverse  I  cannot  bear : 
No  rest,  no  pleasure  will  I  see  ; 
My  whole  of  bliss  is  lost  with  thee  ! 
I'll  give  all  thoughts  of  patience  o'er ; 
(A  gift  I  never  lost  before ;) 
Indulge  at  once  my  rage  and  grief, 
Mourn  obstinate,  disdain  relief, 
And  call  that  wretch  my  mortal  foe, 
Who  tries  to  mitigate  my  wo ; 

Till  life,  on  terms  severe  as  these, 
Shall,  ebbing,  leave  my  heart  at  ease  ; 
To  thee  thy  liberty  restore 
To  laugh  when  Hetty  is  no  more. 

•)< 

It  is  not  likely  that  these  lines  produced  any  good  effect  on  the  untu- 
tored and  sin-hardened  heart  of  Mr.  Wright :  there  is  no  evidence  that 
he  amended ;  or  that  her  lot  in  life  was  ameliorated,  till  in  her  distress 
she  turned  her  eyes  to  Him,  who  is  a  cover  from  the  storm,  and  a 
refuge  to  the  distressed. 

That  she  was  fully  awakened  to  a  sense  of  her  need  of  the  Friend  of 
sinners,  and  sought  and  found  that  great  salvation  which  her  brothers 
so  powerfully  and  successfully  preached,  may  be  seen  by  the  following 
letters. 

In  1743,  she  wrote  as  follows  to  her  brother,  Mr.  John  Wesley : — 

"  Some  years  ago  I  told  my  brother  Charles,  I  could  not  be  of  his 
way  of  thinking  then ;  but  that  if  ever  I  was,  I  would  as  freely  own  it. 

"  After  I  was  convinced  of  sin,  and  of  your  opinions,  as  far  as  I  had 
examined  your  principles,  I  still  forbore  declaring  my  sentiments  as 
openly  as  I  had  an  inclination  to  do,  fearing  I  should  relapse  into  my 
former  state.  When  I  was  delivered  from  this  fear,  and  had  a  blessed 
hope  that  He  who  had  begun  would  finish  his  work,  I  never  confessed 
so  powerfully  as  I  ought  how  entirely  I  was  of  your  mind ;  because  I 
was  taxed  with  insincerity  and  hypocrisy  whenever  I  opened  my  mouth 
in  favour  of  religion,  or  owned  how  great  things  God  had  done  for  me. 

"  This  discouraged  me  utterly,  and  prevented  me  from  making  my 
change  so  public,  as  my  folly  and  vanity  had  formerly  been.  But  now 
my  health  is  gone,  I  cannot  be  easy  without  declaring  that  I  have  long 
desired  to  know  one  thing,  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified ;  and  this 
desire  prevails  above  all  others. 


320  MISS   HETTT  WESLEY, MRS.   WRIGHT. 

"  And  though  I  am  cut  off  from  all  human  help,  or  ministry,  I  am 
not  without  assistance  :  though  I  have  no  spiritual  friend,  nor  ever  had 
one  yet,  except  perhaps  once  in  a  year  or  two  when  I  have  seen  one  of 
my  brothers,  or  some  other  religious  person  by  stealth  ;  yet  (no  thanks 
to  me)  I  am  enabled  to  seek  him  still,  and  to  be  satisfied  with  nothing 
less  than  God,  in  whose  presence  I  affirm  this  truth.  I  dare  not  desire 
health ;  only  patience,  resignation,  and  the  spirit  of  a  healthful  mind. 
I  have  been  so  long  weak,  that  I  know  not  how  long  my  trial  may  last : 
but  I  have  a  firm  persuasion,  and  blessed  hope,  (though  no  full  assur- 
ance,) that  in  the  country  I  am  going  to  I  shall  not  sing  hallelujah,  and 
holy,  holy,  holy,  without  company,  as  I  have  done  in  this.  Dear  bro- 
ther, I  am  unable  to  speak  or  write  on  these  things  ;  I  only  speak  my 
plain  thoughts  as  they  occur.  Adieu :  if  you  have  time  from  better 
business  to  send  a  line  to  Stanmore,  so  great  a  comfort  would  be  as 
welcome  as  it  is  wanted." 

The  Stanmore  here  mentioned,  was  probably  that  near  Edgeware, 
about  ten  miles  from  London.  It  is  near  a  hill  so  very  high,  that  the 
trees  on  its  top  are  a  landmark  from  the  German  ocean. 

What  an  infinite  mercy  that  such  a  mind,  harassed  out  with  distress 
and  anguish,  found  at  last  a  resting  place.  This  was  the  means  of  pre- 
serving for  several  years  a  life  that  previously  stood  on  the  very  verge 
of  the  grave.  In  the  following  year,  1744,  she  visited  Bristol,  where 
she  had  the  opportunity  of  sitting  under  the  ministry  of  her  brothers, 
and  of  being  connected  with  the  very  holy  and  sensible  members  of  the 
Methodist  society  in  that  place  !  She  profited  much  by  their  pious  con- 
versation, and  their  Christian  experience.  She  was  led  to  that  light 
which  manifests  whatsoever  is  not  wrought  of  God ;  she  saw  the  depth 
of  her  natural  corruption,  and  she  mourned  as  in  sackcloth  and  ashes, 
till  she  found  redemption  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  She  then  went  on 
rejoicing  in  God  her  salvation,  sustained  in  all  her  troubles,  strength- 
ened in  all  her  weakness,  growing  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  till  her  happy  spirit  returned  to  God.  Her  brother 
Charles  visited  her  in  her  last  illness.  In  the  month  in  which  she  died 
he  thus  mentions  her :  "  Prayed  by  my  sister  Wright,  a  gracious,  ten- 
der, trembling  soul ;  a  bruised  reed  which  the  Lord  will  not  break." 
She  died  March  21,  1751 ;  and  Mr.  Charles  Wesley  preached  her 
funeral  sermon  from  these  words  :  "  Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down, 
neither  shall  thy  moon  withdraw  itself;  for  the  Lord  shall  be  thine  ever- 
lasting light,  and  the  days  of  thy  mourning  shall  be  ended."  During 
this  solemn  service  both  he  and  his  congregation  were  deeply  affected. 

Mr.  Wr right  had  an  establishment  in  Frith-street,  Soho,  London, 
where  he  carried  on  his  business  of  plumbing  and  glazing ;  and  had 
lead  works  connected  with  the  others,  the  former  of  which  injured  his 
own  health  and  very  materially  that  of  Mrs.  WVight. 

They  had  several  children  but  all  died  young  ;  and  it  was  their  mo- 
ther's opinion  that  the  effluvia  from  the  lead  works  were  the  cause  of 
their  death.  This  she  told  Mr.  Duncombe,  when  he  visited  her  not 
long  before  she  died.  This  gentleman  wrote  a  small  tract,  quarto, 
price  one  shilling,  called  the  Feminead,  containing  the  characters  and 
praises  of  several  eminent  ladies,  of  whom  Mrs.  Wright  was  one  ;  and, 


MISS   HETTY   WESLEY, — MRS.    WRIGHT.  321 

like  many  other  superficial  thinkers  and  reflectors,  who  publish  their 
own  prejudices  instead  of  facts,  he  attributed  her  wo- worn  state  to  false 
views  she  had  taken  of  religion,  which  filled  her  with  a  gloomy,  and,  to 
her,  destructive  superstition !  His  verses  on  the  subject  are  not  worth 
repeating :  but  as  they  have  been  produced  by  others  of  like  opinion,  I 
shall  subjoin  them  ;  and  the  reader  will  see  at  once  that  they  are  flatly 
contradicted  and  nullified  by  the  preceding  account. 

"  But  ah !  why  heaves  my  breast  this  pensive  sigh  ? 
Why  starts  this  tear  unbidden  from  my  eye  ? 
What  breast  from  sighs,  what  eye  from  tears  refrains, 
When,  sweetly  mournful,  hapless  Wright  complains? 
And  who  but  grieves  to  see  her  generous  mind, 
Por  nobler  views  and  worthier  guests  design'd, 
Amidst  the  hateful  form  of  black  despair, 
Wan  with  the  gloom  of  superstitious  care  ? 
In  pity-moving  lays,  with  earnest  cries, 
She  called  on  Heaven  to  close  her  weary  eyes, 
And  long  on  earth,  by  heartfelt  woes  opprest, 
Was  borne  by  friendly  death  to  welcome  rest." 

Nothing  can  be  more  false  than  this  statement ;  it  was  her  unsuitable, 
wretched,  ill-fated  marriage ; — the  neglect  and  unkindness,  the  unfeel- 
ingness  and  profligacy,  of  a  worthless  husband, — that  was  the  cause  of 
all  her  distresses  ;  and  these  causes  of  misery  continued  to  prey  on  her 
spirits  and  on  her  body,  till  the  religion  of  the  God  of  heaven  came  to 
her  aid  ;  which  it  did  many  years,  at  least  eight,  before  her  death. 

Had  not  the  wound  she  had  received  in  her  constitution  been  too 
deep,  the  salvation  of  God  which  she  obtained  would  have  healed  her 
body  : — It  was  nevertheless  the  means  of  lengthening  out  her  life  many 
years,  and  giving  her  to  taste  that  happiness  she  had  before  sought  in 
•vain,  in  what  Mr.  Duncombe  calls  "  nobler  views  and  worthier  guests." 
And  the  angels  of  heaven,  not  "  friendly  death"  or  oblivion,  bore  her 
soul  at  last  to  rest  in  the  bosom  of  her  Father  and  her  God. 

Mr.  Duncombe  parries  all  this  by  representing  Mr.  Wright  as  a  very 
decent,  respectable  man,  carrying  on  business  in  his  own  neighbour- 
hood. How  much  decency  and  respectability  he  had,  let  the  preceding 
address  from  his  wife  tell.  He  would  of  course  take  as  much  care  as 
possible  that  the  world  should  not  know  that  his  conduct  toward  her 
was  the  occasion  of  her  broken  heart ;  she  was  of  too  noble  a  spirit  to 
complain;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  Mr.  Wright  might  inform  Mr. 
Duncombe  that  his  wife's  shattered  constitution  was  owing  to  the 
gloomy  views  she  had  taken  of  religion.  However  Mr.  D.  came  by 
his  information,  the  preceding  account  proves  that  it  was  false.  Dr. 
Whitehead  has  observed  justly  that  "  it  is  grievous  to  see  authors, 
whose  works  are  likely  to  be  read,  take  every  opportunity  to  dress  out 
religion  in  the  most  ugly  forms  they  can  invent  to  deter  young  people 
from  embracing  it ;  and  attributing  to  it  the  calamities  of  life,  which 
religion  alone  is  able  to  alleviate  and  redress."  Such  persons  have  no 
just  notion  of  religion  themselves,  and  feel  nothing  of  its  power  and 
nature  ;  hence  they  suspect  every  person  who  pretends  to  any,  to  be 
either  enthusiasts  or  hypocrites. 

Mrs.  Wright  died  long  before  I  was  bum  .  but  from  a  gentleman  still 

41 


322  M1S3   HETTY   WESLEY, MRS.    WRIGHT. 

living,  who  knew  her  in  the  decline  of  life,  I  have  had  this  description  : 
"  She  was  an  elegant  woman,  with  great  refinement  of  manners  ;  and 
had  the  traces  of  beauty  in  her  countenance,  with  the  appearance  of 
being  broken-hearted." 

The  account  given  of  her  mind  and  person  by  a  writer  who  calls 
himself  Sylvius,  in  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for 
1736,  p.  155,  is  by  no  means  exaggerated. 

TO   MRS.  W T. 

ON   READING  HER  MANUSCRIPT   POEMS. 

Fain  would  my  grateful  muse  a  trophy  raise 

Devoted  to  Granvilla's  lasting  praise. 

But  from  what  topic  shall  her  task  begin  ? 

From  outward  charms  ?  or  richer  stores  within? 

'T  were  difficult  with  portrait  just  to  trace  .  ., 

The  blooming  beauties  of  her  lovely  FACE  ; 

The  roseate  bloom  that  blushes  on  her  cheek ; 

Her  eyes  whence  rays  of  pointed  lightning  break; 

Each  brow  the  bow  of  Cupid,  whence  her  darts 

With  certain  arch'ry  strike  unguarded  hearts; 

Her  lips,  that  with  a  rubied  tincture  glow, 

Soft  as  the  soothing  sounds  which  from  them  flow. 

But  O!  what  words,  what  numbers,  shall  I  find 

T'  express  the  boundless  treasures  of  her  MIND, 

Where  wit  and  judgment  spread  their  copious  mines, 

And  every  grace  and  every  virtue  shines  ? 

O  nymph !  when  you  assume  the  muses'  lyre, 
What  thoughts  you  quicken,  and  what  joys  inspire ! 
Pale  melancholy  wears  a  cheerful  mien ; 
Grief  smiles,  and  raging  passions  grow  serene. 
If  themes  sublime,  of  import  grand,  you  try, 
You  lift  the  attentive  spirit  to  the  sky  ; 
Or  change  the  strain,  and  sportive  subjects  choose, 
Our  soft'ning  souls  obey  the  powerful  muse. 
Yet  'tis,  Granvilla,  not  thy  smallest  praise, 
That  no  indecent  thought  profanes  thy  lays. 
Like  thy  own  breast,  thy  style  from  taint  is  free ; 
Censure  may  pry,  but  can  no  blemish  see. 
No  longer  let  thy  muse  the  press  decline ; 
Publish  her  lays,  and  prove  her  race  divine. 
Long  has  thy  tuneful  sire  been  known  to  fame ; 
On  him  Maria  smil'd,  a  royal  name. 
Thy  brother's  works,  received  with  rapture,  tell 
That  on  the  son  the  father's  spirit  fell : 
To  these  the  daughter's  equal  flame  subjoin, 
Then  boast,  O  muses,  the  unrivall'd  line ! 

STLVIUS. 

The  above  verses  Mrs.  Wright,  who  is  here  called  Gra»i'«/a,  sent 
to  the  Gentleman's  Magazine :  and  on  them  the  same  author  com- 
posed the  following  prize  epigram : — 

Allowed  by  bright  Granvilla  to  peruse 
The  sprightly  labours  of  her  charming  muse  ; 
Enraptur'd  by  her  wit's  inspiring  rays, 
I  chanted  ready  numbers  to  her  praise. 
She,  pleased,  my  unpremeditated  liiu-s 
To  4.he  recording  Magazine  consigns : 
But  would  you  be  to  best  advantage  known, 
not  MI  VERSES, /aim(,  but  Tocn  owv. 


MISS   HETTY   WESLEY, MR8.    WRIGHT.  323 

This  epigram  has  very  fine  point  in  it :  but  Mrs.  Wright  could  never 
be  prevailed  on  to  collect  and  give  her  poems  to  the  public.  It  is  said 
that  she  gave  them  at  her  death  to  one  of  her  sisters.  Many  have  been 
published  in  different  collections.  Her  niece,  Miss  Wesley,  has  kindly 
furnished  me  with  several ;  and  from  the  MSS.  I  have  been  enabled 
to  correct  the  printed  copies.  Some  may  be  found  in  the  Poetical 
Register,  the  Christian  Magazine,  the  Arminian  Magazine,  and  in 
different  Lives  of  her  brothers  John  and  Charles  Wesley. 

Most  of  the  following  were  written  under  strong  mental  depression, 
and  before  she  found  the  consolations  of  religion.  They  are  excellent 
of  their  kind,  and  cannot  be  deemed  out  of  their  place  at  the  end  of 
these  memoirs. 

Mrs.  Wright's  address  to  her  dying  infant,  composed  during  her 
confinement,  written  down  from  her  mouth  by  her  husband,  and  sent 
by  him  to  Mr.  John  Wesley,  is  a  piece  inimitable  for  its  tenderness  and 
highly  polished  numbers :  but  tinged  with  that  gloom  which  was  her 
constant  attendant  throughout  her  unfortunate  marriage. 

The  original  letter  sent  with  these  verses  lies  before  me.  It  is  a 
curiosity  of  its  kind  ;  antl  one  proof  among  many  of  the  total  unh'tness 
of  such  a  slender  and  uncultivated  mind  to  match  with  one  of  the 
highest  ornaments  of  her  sex.  I  shall  give  it  entire  in  its  own  ortho- 
graphy, in  order  to  vindicate  the  complaints  of  this  forlorn  woman,  who 
was  forced  to  accept  in  marriage  the  rude  hand  which  wrote  it. 

"  To  the  Revd.  Mr.  John  Wesley,  Fellow  in  Christ  Church  College 
Oxon. 

"  DEAR  BRO  : — This  comes  to  Let  you  know  that  my  wife  is  brought 
to  bed  and  is  in  a  hopefull  way  of  Doing  well  but  the  Dear  child  Died 
— the  Third  day  after  it  was  born — which  has  been  of  great  concerne 
to  me  and  my  wife  She  Joyns  With  me  In  Love  to  your  Selfe  and  Bro : 
Charles  From  Your  Loveing  Bro  :  to  Comnd — WM.  WRIGHT. 

"  PS.  Ive  sen  you  Sum  Verses  that  my  wife  maid  of  Dear  Lamb 
Let  me  hear  from  one  or  both  of  you  as  Soon  as  you  Think  Con- 
veniant." 

The  verses  follow :  but  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  correct  Mr. 
Wright's  barbarous  orthography. 

The  original  letter  and  poem  are,  like  the  ancient  Hebrew,  all  with- 
out points. 

A  MOTHER'S  ADDRESS  TO  HER  DYING  INFANT. 

BT  MRS.  WRIGHT. 

Tender  softness !  infant  mild  ! 
Perfect,  purest,  brightest  child  ! 
Transient  lustre  !  beauteous  clay  ! 
Smiling  wonder  of  a  dny ! 
Ere  Uie  last  convulsive  start 
Rends  thy  unresisting  heart ; 
Ere  the  long-enduring  swoon 
Weigh  thy  precious  eye-lids  dc<\vn  ; 


324  MISS  HETTY   WESLEY, MRS.    WRIGHT, 

Ah,  regard  a  mother's  moan, 
Anguish  deeper  than  thy  own. 

Fairest  eyes,  whose  dawning  light 
Late  with  rapture  blest  my  sight, 
Ere  your  orbs  extinguish'd  be, 
Bend  their  trembling  beams  on  me ! 

Drooping  sweetness !  verdant  flower ! 
Blooming,  withering  in  an  hour ! 
Ere  thy  gentle  breast  sustains 
Latest,  fiercest,  mortal  pains, 
Hear  a  suppliant !  let  me  be 
Partner  in  thy  destiny  ! 
That  whene'er  the  fatal  cloud 
Must  thy  radiant  temples  shroud  : 
When  deadly  damps,  impending  now, 
Shall  hover  round  thy  destined  brow, 
Diffusive  may  their  influence  be, 
And  with  the  blossom  blast  the  tree  ! 


LINES 

WRITTEN   BT   MRS.   WRIGHT  WHEN   IN   DEEP  ANO0ISH  OF  SPIRIT, 

J  Oppressed  with  utmost  weight  of  wo, 

Debarr'd  of  freedom,  health,  and  rest ; 
What  human  eloquence  can  show 
The  inward  anguish  of  my  breast. ! 

2  The  finest  periods  of  discourse, 

(Rhetoric  in  all  her  pompous  dress 
Unmoving)  lose  their  pointed  force, 
When  griefs  are  swell'd  beyond  redress. 

3  Attempt  not  then  with  speeches  smooth 

My  raging  conflicts  to  control ; 

Nor  softest  sounds  again  can  soothe 

The  wild  disorder  of  my  soul ! 

4  Such  efforts  vain  to  end  my  fears, 

And  long  lost  happiness  restore, 
May  make  me  melt  in  fruitless  tears, 
But  charm  my  tortured  soul  no  more, 

5  Enable  me  to  bear  my  lot, 

O  T/wu  who  only  canst  redress ! 
Eternal  God !  forsake  me  not 
In  this  extreme  of  my  distress. 

€  Regard  thy  humble  suppliant's  suit ; 

Nor  let  me  long  in  anguish  pine, 
Dismay'd,  abandon'd,  destitute 
Of  all  support,  but  only  thine! 

7  Nor  health,  nor  life,  I  ask  of  thee; 

Nor  languid  nature  to  restore : 
Say  but  "  a  speedy  period  be 
To  thiese  thy  griefs," — I  ask  no  more ! 


MISS    HETTY   WESLEY, MRS.   WRIGHT.  325 

These  lines  seem  to  have  been  written  about  the  time  of  her  address 
to  her  husband.  Despair  of  all  remedy  had  nearly  drunk  up  her  spirit: 
but  she  began  to  seek  help  where  it  could  be  found. 

The  last  three  verses  are  very  fine. 

THE  LUCID  INTERVAL. 

BY   MRS.  WRIGHT. 

1  Wear  pleasure,  Stella !  on  thy  face, 

Nor  check  the  rising  joy : 
Nor  canst  thou,  since  the  heart  displays 
Its  transport  through  the  eye. 

2  Those  dearly  welcome  hours  of  rest, 

This  pleasing  truce  from  care, 
Removes  the  mountain  from  thy  breast, 
Thou  hast  not  learnt  to  bear. 

3  Though,  distant  far  from  what  I  love, 

My  blooming  hopes  are  crost, 
Yet  free  as  air  my  thoughts  can  rove, 
In  silent  rapture  lost! 

4  Then,  Stella,  prize  thy  present  ease, 

This  interval  of  wo: 
Since  other  moments  blest  as  these 
Thy  life  may  never  know. 

5  Snatch  the  fleet  pleasures  ere  they  part : 

To-morrow  (should'st  thou  say) 
Tho'  pain  may  rend  this  tortured  heart, 
I'll  smile  and  live  to-day. 


AN  EPITAPH  ON  HERSELF. 

BT  MRS.  WRIGHT. 

Destin'd  while  living  to  sustain 
An  equal  share  of  grief  and  pain ; 
All  various  ills  of  human  race 
Within  this  breast  had  once  a  place. 
Without  complaint  she  learn'd  to  bear 
A  living  death,  a  long  despair; 
Till  hard  oppress'd  by  adverse  fate, 
O'ercharg'd,  she  sunk  beneath  its  weight 
And  to  this  peaceful  tomb  retired, 
So  much  esteem'd,  so  long  desired. 
The  painful  mortal  conflict's  o'er  : 
A  broken  heart  can  bleed  no  more ! 


THE  RESIGNATION: 

A  PENITENT   HEART   HOPING  IN  GOD. 
BT  MRS.  WRIGHT. 

I  Great  Power!  at  whose  almighty  hand 

Vengeance  and  comfort  ever  wait ; 
Starting  to  earth  at  thy  command, 
To  execut*  thy  love  or  hate  • 


326  MIS8   HETTY   WESLEY, MRS.    WRIGHT. 

2  Thy  indignation  knits  thy  brow 

On  those  who  dare  to  sin  give  way ; 
But  who  so  perfect,  Lord,  below 
As  never  from  thy  word  to  stray  ? 

3  But  when  thy  mighty  laws  we  break, 

And  after  do  our  guilt  deplore ; 
Thou  dost  the  word  of  comfort  speak, 
And  treasure  up  our  crimes  no  more. 

4  O  thou,  thy  mighty  grace  display, 

And  thy  offending  servant  spare ; 
With  pain  my  body  wastes  away, 
My  weaken'd  limbs  with  constant  care. 

5  Grief  has  my  blaod  and  spirits  drunk, 

My  tears  do  like  the  night-dew  fall ; 
My  cheeks  are  faded,  eyes  are  sunk, 
And  all  my  draughts  are  dash'd  with  gall. 

6  Thou  canst  the  heavy  hand  withdraw, 

That  bends  me  downward  to  the  grave ; 
One  healing  touch  my  pain  can  awe, 
And  thy  declining  servant  save./ 

7  But  if  thy  justice  has  decreed 

I  still  must  languish  out  my  days ; 
Support  me  in  the  time  of  need, 
Patient  to  bear  these  slow  decays. 

9  Lo !  to  thy  dreadful  will  I  bow, 
Thy  visitations  still  to  prove ; 
Thy  judgments  do  thy  mercy  show, 
Since,  Lord,  thou  chast'nest  in  thy  love. 

The  following  address  contains  some  fine  sentiments  and  consolatory 
thoughts : — 

TO  A  MOTHER, 

ON  THE  DEATH  OF  HER  CHILDREN. 
BT   MRS.  WRIGHT. 

1  Though  sorer  sorrows  than  their  birth 

Your  children's  death  has  given  ; 

Mourn  not  that  others  bear  for  earth, 

While  you  have  peopled  heaven ! 

2  If  now  so  painful  'tis  to  part, 

O  think,  that  when  you  meet, 
Well  bought  with  shortly  fleeting  smart 
Is  never-ending  sweet ! 

3  What  if  those  little  angels,  nigh 

T'  assist  your  latest  pain, 
Should  hover  round  you  when  you  die, 
And  leave  you  not  again  ? 

4  Say,  shall  you  then  regret  your  woes, 

Or  mourn  your  teeming  years  ? 
One  moment  will  reward  your  throes, 
And  overpay  your  tears.    . 


MIS8   HETTT   WESLEY, MRS.    WRIGHT.  327 

5  Redoubled  thanks  will  fill  your  song : 

Transported  while  you  view 
Th'  inclining,  happy,  infant  throng, 
That  owe  their  bliss  to  you ! 

6  So  moves  the  common  star,  tho'  bright, 

With  simple  lustre  crown'd  ; 
The  planet  shines,  with  guards  of  light 
Attending  it  around. 


A  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 

BY   MRS.  WRIGHT. 

While  sickness  rends  this  tenement  of  clay, 

Th'  approaching  change  with  pleasure  I  survey ; 

O'erjoy'd  to  reach  the  goal,  with  eager  pace, 

Ere  my  slow  life  has  measur'd  half  its  race. 

No  longer  shall  I  bear,  my  friends  to  please, 

The  hard  constraint  of  seeming  much  at  ease, 

Wearing  an  outward  smile,  a  look  serene, 

While  piercing  racks  and  tortures  work  within. 

Vet  let  me  not,  ungrateful  to  my  God, 

Record  the  evil,  and  forget  the  good : 

For  both  I  humble  adoration  pay, 

And  bless  the  power  who  gives,  and  takes  away. 

Long  shall  my  faithful  memory  retain 

And  oft  recall  each  interval  of  pain. 

Nay,  to  high  Heaven  for  greater  gifts  I  band ; 

Health  I've  enjoy'd,  and  I  had  once  &  friend ! 

Our  labour  sweet,  if  labour  it  might  seem, 

Allow'd  the  sportive  and  instructive  scene. 

Yet  here  no  lewd  or  useless  wit  was  found  ; 

We  pois'd  the  wav'ring  sail  with  ballast  sound. 

Learning  here  plac'd  her  richer  stores  in  view., 

Or,  wing'd  with  love,  the  minutes  gaily  flew! 

Nay,  yet  sublimer  joy  our  bosoms  prov'd, 

Divine  benevolence,  by  Heaven  belov'd. 

Wan  meagre  forms,  torn  from  impending  death, 

Exulting,  blest  us  with  reviving  breath. 

The  shiv'ring  wretch  we  cloth'd,  the  mourner  cheer'd, 

And  sickness  ceased  to  groan  when  we  appear'd. 

Unask'd,  our  care  assists  with  tender  art 

Their  bodies,  nor  neglects  th'  immortal  part. 

Sometimes  in  shades  unpierc'd  by  Cynthia's  beam, 

Whose  lustre  glimmer'd  on  the  dimpled  stream, 

We  wander'd  innocent  through  sylvan  scenes, 

Or  tripp'd  like  fairies  o'er  the  level  greens. 

From  fragrant  herbage  deck'd  with  pearly  dews, 

And  flow'rets  of  a  thousand  diff'rent  hues, 

By  wafting  gales  the  mingling  odours  fly, 

And  round  our  heads  in  whisp'ring  breezes  sigh. 

Whole  nature  seems  to  heighten  and  improve 

The  holier  hours  of  innocence  and  love. 

Youth,  wit,  good  nature,  candour,  sense,  combin'd 

To  serve,  delight,  and  civilize  mankind ; 

In  wisdom's  love  we  ev'ry  heart  engage. 

And  triumph  to  restore  the  golden  age! 

Nor  close  the  blissful  scene,  exhausted  mnse. 
The  latest  blissful  scene  that  thou  shall  choose ; 


328  MISS   HETTT   WESLEY, MRS.    WRIGHT. 

Satiate  with  life,  what  joys  for  me  remain, 
Save  one  dear  wish  to  balance  ev'ry  pain : 
To  bow  my  head,  with  grief  and  toil  opprest, 
Till  borne  by  angel  bands  to  everlasting  rest. 

"It  is  but  justice  to  her  memory,"  says  Mr.  Wesley,  "to  observe, 
that  she  was  at  'rest*  before  she  went  hence;  being  for  some  years 
a  witness  of  that  rest  which  remains,  even  here,  for  the  people  of 
God." — In  the  above  verses  she  refers  with  exquisite  feeling  to  her 
beloved  sister  Mary. 

I  know  not  whether,  after  her  conversion  to  God,  she  wrote  any 
verses  ;  it  is  most  likely  that  she  did  not,  as  for  several  years  before 
her  death  she  was  in  a  very  infirm  state  of  health,  and  could  not  use 
her  pen  with  ease.  Of  gay,  sportive,  innocent  pieces  she  no  doubt 
wrote  many :  but  I  have  not  met  with  any  that  bear  her  name,  though 
among  many  now  lying  before  me  in  the  hand  writing  of  herself,  Emily, 
and  Kezzia,  there  may  be  some  of  her  composing.  When  Mr.  Dun- 
combe  asked  her  about  her  poetical  compositions,  she  told  him  that 
"  she  had  none  left,  having  given  them  to  her  sister  ;" — which  sister,  is 
not  mentioned. 

I  have  already  hazarded  a  thought  that  the  hymn  of  Eupolis  to  the 
Creator  might  probably  have  been  written  by  her,  or  at  least  a  part  of 
it.  I  have  given  some  reasons  to  support  this  opinion  :  but  as  the  piece 
has  passed  invariably  in  the  family  for  old  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley's  pro- 
duction, I  will  not  undertake  to  defend  it.  Both  the  father  and  daugh- 
ter had  great  poetical  powers  ; — his,  often  rugged,  but  still  strong ;  hers, 
highly  polished  and  harmonious,  yet  full  of  fire  ;  and  I  would  conclude 
on  the  subject,  as  the  shepherd  in  Virgil : — 

.Won  nostrum  inter  vos  tan  las  componere  liles, 
El  vilula  tu  dignus  et  hie. 

Eclog.  iii,  v.  108. 

"  So  nice  a  difference  in  your  singing  lies, 
That  both  have  won,  or  both  deserv'd  the  prize: 
Rest  equal  happy  both." 

DRTDEN. 

From  mature  reflection,  I  believe  either  of  them  was  capable  of  the 
poem :  but  perhaps  it  required  both  to  make  it  that  finished,  may  I  not 
say  inimitable,  piece  which  it  now  appears. 

The  following  verses  I  found  partly  in  Mrs.  Wright's  and  partly  in 
her  father's  hand  writing.  They  seem  to  have  been  occasioned  by 
some  person,  called  here,  Silky's  idol,  ludicrously  asserting  the  doctrine 
of  the  metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  from  body  to  body : — 

THE  TRANSMIGRATION. 

1  The  period  fast  comes  on  when  I 

Must  to  an  oyster  turn  ; 
(Unless  my  Suky's  idol  lie  ;) 
Nor  will  I  grieve  or  mourn. 

2  Welcome  my  transmigrated  state  ! 

I'll  for  the  worst  prepare  ; 


MISS    HETTY   WESLEY, — MRS.   WRIGHT.  329 

Think  while  'tis  given  to  think  by  fate ; 
Theu  like  a  log  must  bear. 

3  These  eyes  I  feel  will  soon  depart ; 

(Else  Hetty  should  not  write ;) 
Their  balls  will  to  such  pearls  convert, 
As  ladies  wont  delight. 

4  The  pineal  gland,  from  whence  some  say 

Man  thinks,  reflects,  and  knows 
Whate'er  is  best, — perhaps  it  may 
The  oyster's  head  compose. 

5  Or  coarse  or  curious  be  the  mould, 

Whate'er  its  form  contains, 
That  small  peninsula  may  hold 
My  few  but  working  brains. 

6  VAvfingers  may  the  stria  make, 

The  *hell  my  parched  skin  ; 
My  nerve*  and  bones  with  palsies  shake 
The  white  reverse  within. 

7  Perhaps  at  tide-time  I  may  wake, 

And  sip  a  little  moisture ; 
Then  to  my  pillow  me  betake, 
And  sleep  like  brother  oyster. 

8  What  shall  I  dream  ?  or  what  compose  1 

Some  harmless  rhymes  like  these ; 
Below  the  wits,  above  the  beaus, 
Which  Poll  and  Kez  may  please. 

9  A  dubious  being,  hardly  life, 

Yet  sensible  of  wo ; 

For  when  death  comes  with  rusty  knife, 
But  few  will  meet  the  blow. 

10  Which  sure  my  heart,  tho'  once  'twas  strong, 

Will  then  nor  fly  nor  choose; 
The  pulpy  substance  will  not  long 
The  coup  de  grace  refuse. 

1 1  My  loving  oyster  kins,  which  sit 

So  fast  to  native  shell, 
Must  then  some  other  harbour  get, 
Or  in  wide  ocean  dwell. 

12  And  since  this  sensible  must  fail, 

I  feel  it  bend  and  sink, 
Come  age,  come  death ;  you'll  soon  prevail, 
I'll  wait  you  on  the  brink. 

13  But  is  there  not  a  something  still 

Sprung  from  a  nobler  race, 
Above  the  passions  and  the  will, 
Which  lifts  to  heaven  its  face  ? 

14  There  is — I  feel  it  upward  tend 

While  these  weak  spirits  decay, 
Which  sighs  to  meet  its  Saviour, — Friend, 
And  springs  for  native  day. 

15  When  all  its  organs  marr'd  and  worn. 

Let  Locke  say  what  he  can, 

-  Twill  act  still  round  itself turn,— 

The  mind  is  still  the  man. 
42 


330  MI38  MARTHA   WESLEY, — MRS.    HALL. 

16  Which  if  fair  virtue  be  my  choice, 

Above  the  stars  shall  shine  ; 
Above  want,  pain,  and  death  rejoice, 
Immortal  and  divine. 


MISS  MARTHA  WESLEY.-MRS.  HALL. 

MARTHA,  or,  as  she  is  usually  termed,  Patty  or  Pat  seems  to  have 
been  born  some  time  between  1703  and  1708.  She  was  younger  than 
her  brother  John,  and  older  than  her  brother  Charles.  She  was  re- 
puted by  her  sisters  to  be  the  mother's  favourite.  Mr.  Charles  thought 
the  same  ;  and  expressed  his  "  wonder  that  so  wise  a  woman  as  his 
mother  could  give  way  to  such  a  partiality,  or  did  not  better  conceal 
it."  Many  years  after,  when  this  saying  of  her  brother  was  mentioned 
to  Mrs.  Hall,  she  replied,  "  What  my  sisters  call  partiality  was  what 
they  might  all  have  enjoyed  if  they  had  wished  it ;  which  was  permis- 
sion to  sit  in  my  mother's  chamber  when  disengaged,  to  listen  to  her 
conversation  with  others,  and  to  hear  her  remarks  on  things  and  books 
out  of  school  hours."  What  was  called  partiality  to  Patty,  was  the 
indulgence  of  this  propensity  to  store  her  mind,  and  enlarge  her  intel- 
lect, with  the  observations  of  a  parent  whose  mode  of  thinking  was  not 
common,  and  whose  conversation  was  both  peculiarly  impressive  and 
instructing :  and  surely  it  would  have  been  cruelty  to  have  chased 
away  a  little  one,  who  preferred  her  mother's  society  to  recreation,  and 
delighted  to  hang  upon  her  words,  when  the  others  were  intensely 
engaged  in  play.  The  truth  appears  to  be,  thai  the  partiality  was  on  the 
part  of  the  child.  Patty  loved  her  mother  more  than  any  of  the 
rest ;  and  this  for  the  double  reason,  because  she  was  her  mother, 
which  was  common  to  all,  and  because  in  listening  to  her  discourses, 
she  increased  her  little  fund  of  knowledge,  which  was  what  her  soul 
thirsted  after,  a  propensity  which  her  mother  very  properly  permitted 
her  to  indulge. 

From  her  infancy,  Patty  was  distinguished  for  deep  thoughtfulness, 
for  grave  and  serious  deportment,  and  for  an  equanimity,  or  evenness 
of  temper,  which  nothing  could  discompose. 

Her  brothers  Samuel  and  Charles,  with  all  her  sisters,  strove  by  all 
kinds  of  witty  mischief  to  throw  her  off  her  guard,  and  ruffle  her  temper  ; 
but  in  vain.  To  their  jests  and  playful  tricks  she  opposed  solid 
arguments,  and  this  acquired  her  the  name  of  Patient  Grizzle,  among 
them.  Her  abhorrence  of  satire  (in  which  it  appeals  most  of  the  rest 
abounded)  provoked  its  attacks  in  many  an  epigram  while  she  calmly 
expostulated  on  the  moral  evil  of  satire,  and  unprovoked,  contended 
even  with  her  brother  Samuel  that  ridicule  never  cured  any  vice.  She 
was  so  affectionate  in  her  disposition,  that  they  could  not  quarrel  with 
her,  and  so  completely  unassailable  thai  she  foiled  her  antagonists. 

By  the  misery  of  others  she  was  vulnerable  jn  the  very  tenderest  degree. 
Though  slow  and  deliberate  in  all  her  general  movements,  she  would 
fly,  at  the  call  of  want  or  pain,  to  succour  the  distressed.  No  occu- 
pation, no  indisposition  of  body,  except  it  confined  her  to  her  bed,  could 


illflS  MARTHA    WESLEY, — MRS.    HALL.  331 

prevent  her  from  affording  her  assistance.  In  this  alone  she  was  en- 
thusiastic, and  the  readiness  with  which  she  obeyed  such  calls  attended 
her  to  old  age. 

To  her  brother  John  she  was  uncommonly  attached.  They  had  the 
same  features  so  exactly,  as  if  cast  in  the  same  mould,  added  to  an 
exact  similarity  of  disposition.  Had  I  seen  them  dressed  in  the  cloth- 
ing of  males,  I  could  not  have  told  which  was  Mr.  Wesley  ;  and  had 
I  seen  them  in  female  attire,  I  could  not  have  distinguished  which  was 
Mrs.  Hall.  Such  a  similarity  of  countenance,  expression,  and  manner, 
I  think  I  never  perceived  as  between  these  two.  Even  their  hand 
writing  was  so  much  alike,  that  the  one  might  be  easily  mistaken  for 
the  other.  And  the  internal  disposition  was  the  same.  Like  her,  John 
thought  deeply  on  every  subject ;  and  felt  himself  answerable  to  his 
reason  and  conscience  for  every  thing  he  did  :  in  neither  of  them  did 
passion,  or  natural  appetite,  seem  to  have  any  peculiar  sway.  Mr. 
Wesley  has  told  me,  that  when  he  was  a  child,  and  was  asked  at  any 
time,  out  of  the  common  way  of  meals,  to  have  for  instance  a  piece  of 
bread  and  butter,  fruit,  &c,  he  has  replied  with  cool  unconcern,  "  I 
thank  you,  I  will  think  of  it."  He  would  neither  touch  nor  do  any 
thing  till  he  had  reflected  on  its  fitness  and  propriety.  This  subjection 
of  his  mind  to  deep  reflection,  which  might  have  appeared,  to  those 
who  were  not  acquainted  with  him,  like  hesitation,  sometimes  puzzled 
the  family.  In  one  instance  his  father  said  in  a  pet  to  Mrs.  Wesley, 
"  I  profess,  sweetheart,  I  think  our  Jack  would  not  attend  to  the  most 
pressing  necessities  of  nature,  unless  he  could  give  a  reason  for  it." 

His  love  to  Patty  was  like  hers  to  him  ;  and  he  alone  never  joined 
in  the  provoking  tricks  of  the  others,  when  they  leagued  together  to 
overturn  Patty's  philosophic  steadiness. 

Her  attachment  to  this  brother,  to  whom  she  bore  so  strong  an  affi- 
nity both  in  mind  and  person,  seemed  to  be  innate,  not  acquired.  From 
her  earliest  infancy  when  a  helpless  child  in  the  arms,  afflicted  and 
moaning  with  pain,  the  sight  of  this  beloved  brother  immediately  calmed 
and  cheered  her,  causing  her  to  forget  her  pain  and  suffering. 

The  astonishing  similarity  in  person  and  feeling  between  this  brother 
and  sister,  accompanied  by  such  a  singular  mutual  attachment  which 
lasted  through  life,  has  induced  me  to  anticipate  a  part  of  the  early 
history  of  Mr.  Wesley,  of  which  his  future  biographers  may  make  a 
profitable  use. 

Mrs.  Wesley's  opinion  of  the  strong  characteristic  steadiness  of 
Patty  may  appear  from  the  following  incident.  One  day  entering 
the  nursery  when  all  the  children,  Patty  excepted,  (who  was  ever 
sedate  and  reflecting,)  were  in  high  glee  and  frolic,  the  mother  said, 
but  not  rebukingly,  "  You  will  all  be  more  serious  one  day."  Martha 
lifting  up  her  head,  immediately  said, "  Shall  I  be  more  serious  mam  ?" 
No,  replied  the  mother. 

Her  mother  was  her  oracle.  She  almost  idolized  her,  and  would 
never  willingly  be  from  her  side  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if 
Mrs.  Wesley  did  feel  a  partiality  for  such  a  child.  It  is  natural  for 
love  to  beget  love ;  and  where  this  law  of  nature  seems  to  be  inefficient, 
eiunity  will  take  the  place  of  love,  or  love  will  soon  become  extinct 


332  MISS  MARTHA   WESLEV, MRS.   HALL. 

But  there  is  a  part  of  Martha's  character  which  has  been  so  so- 
lemnly impeached,  and  the  prejudice  against  her  became  in  conse- 
quence so  inveterate  ;  that,  unless  I  can  clear  up  this  point,  I  can 
scarcely  expect  credit  from  my  readers  who  know  no  more  than  what 
is  contained  in  the  public  outcry :  I  allude  to  her  conduct  in  reference 
to  her  marriage. 

On  the  disastrous  fire  which  took  place  in  1709,  in  the  parsonage 
house  at  Epworth,  by  which  it  and  all  Mr.  Wesley's  property  were 
destroyed,  the  children  were  scattered  among  relatives  and  friends,  till 
the  house  could  be  rebuilt,  and  till  the  desolation  in  the  family  circum- 
stances might  be  in  some  measure  repaired. 

Some  time  after  this,  Mr.  Matthew  Wesley,  the  surgeon,  took  to  his 
house  Hetty  and  Susan,  and  afterward  in  1730,  Patty.  It  proves  no 
mean  subjection  of  her  will  to  the  obedience  due  to  parental  authority, 
that,  notwithstanding  her  strong  attachment  to  her  mother,  she  consented 
without  murmuring  to  go  with  this  uncle,  who  was  still  till  then  nearly  a 
stranger  to  her ;  and  to  sojourn  at  a  great  distance  from  parents  whom 
she  dearly  loved,  and  the  benefit  of  whose  conversation  she  could  not 
hope  to  replace. 

While  she  stayed  with  her  uncle,  she  was  treated  by  him  with  the 
greatest  tenderness  :  but  as  he  was  very  unlike  all  other  persons  of  the 
family,  not  having  a  decisively  religious  turn,  she  often  found  herself  in 
great  bondage.  Though  he  did  not  oppose  any  obstacles  to  the  grati- 
fication of  her  religious  feelings,  yet  she  was  there  without  help  in 
sacred  things.  She  had  none  to  encourage  her  to  press  forward  in  the 
good  way,  which,  in  a  letter  to  her  brother  John,  she  greatly  deplores. 
While  in  London  with  her  uncle,  she  sometimes  paid  a  visit  to  her  bro- 
ther Samuel  at  Westminster  :  but  her  plain  manner  did  not  suit  the  views 
of  his  "  lordly  dame,"  and  therefore  her  visits  were  not  very  frequent. 

I  shall  give  an  extract  of  the  letter  to  which  I  have  referred  in  this 
place,  as  it  may  be  considered  as  a  prelude  to  her  marriage  ;  at  least 
it  will  show  that  she  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  her  situation,  and  might 
be  the  more  easily  persuaded  to  change  it,  when  a  proper  opportunity 
should  present  itself. 

"I  intended  to  have  wrote  sooner  to  my  dear  brother,  but  I  have  had 
such  an  indisposition,  as,  though  it  has  not  made  me  what  one  may 
call  sick,  it  has  made  me  almost  incapable  of  any  thing. 

"  My  uncle  is  pretty  well  recovered.  I  heartily  join  with  you  in 
wishing  you  may  have  a  conference  with  him.  Who  knows  but  he 
might  be  better  for  it ;  at  least,  it  is  not  impossible.  He  had  several 
years  ago  a  violent  fit  of  illness  ;  seemed  wondrous  serious  ;  and  sent 
for  a  clergyman,  who  stayed  with  him  some  hours,  and  when  he  came 
from  him  told  my  grandmother,  if  it  pleased  God  to  spare  his  life,  he 
believed  he  would  be  a  good  man.  But  when  he  did  recover  again, 
and  got  among  his  companions,  all  his  good  resolutions  vanished  im- 
mediately ! 

"  Was  almost  any  body  else  in  my  place,  they  would  think  them- 
selves very  happy.  I  want  neither  money  nor  clothes  ;  nay,  I  have 
both  given  me  in  the  most  obliging  manner ;  and  yet  I  am  not  so.  I 


MISS  MARTHA   WBSLHY, MRS.    HALL.  333 

not  only  want  the  most  rational  part  of  friendship  ;  but  I  see  a  person 
whom  I  can't  help  loving  very  well,  (to  say  nothing  of  my  sister,)  going 
on  in  a  way  which  I  think  the  wrong  way,  without  being  able  to  per- 
suade him  to  turn  into  the  right.  I  cannot  do  the  good  I  fain  would, 
and  I  am  continually  in  danger  of  doing  the  evil  I  would  not. 

"  0  might  I  like  the  seraph  Abdiel,  faithful  stand  among  the  faith- 
less !  I  am  persuaded  I  shall  not  want  my  dear  brother's  prayers  to 
enable  me  to  do  it. 

"  I  go  sometimes  to  Westminster :  but  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  impos- 
sible for  me  ever  to  make  a.  friend  of  my  sister.  She  fell  upon  me  the 
last  time  I  was  there  for  *  giving  myself  such  an  air  as  to  drink  water,' 
though  she  told  me  '  she  did  not  expect  that  I  should  leave  it.'  I  told 
her  if  she  could  convince  me  that  there  was  any  ill  in  it,  I  would,  and 
thank  her  for  telling  me  of  it :  but  I  desired  her,  in  the  first  place,  to 
tell  me  what  she  meant  by  the  word  '  air,'  which  she  did  not  choose  to 
do,  I  believe  for  a  very  good  reason  ;  so  our  dispute  ended.  My  bro- 
ther said  he  would  go  to  Oxford  this  Easter.  I  asked  him  if  he  would 
take  me  with  him  ?  He  seemed  pretty  willing  to  do  it :  but  I  fancy  his 
•wife  will  hardly  let  him.  Indeed,  if  he  should  give  me  twenty  shillings, 
it  would  be  such  a  thing  as  he  never  did  yet ;  nor  indeed  did  I  ever 
desire  it  before.  I  should  be  pleased  if  he  would,  because  it  would  give 
me  the  pleasure  of  seeing  my  dear  brother  at  his  own  habitation,  and 
of  telling  him  by  word  of  mouth  how  much  1  am  his  faithful  friend,  and 
affectionate  sister,  MARTHA  WESLEY. 

"March  10,  1730." 

The  poor  surgeon,  her  uncle,  was  supposed  to  be  careless  about  reli- 
gion, because  he  did  not  take  a  heated  part  in  the  pro  and  con  polemic 
divinity  of  the  day. 

While  Martha  was  at  her  uncle's  house,  she  received  the  addresses 
of  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  //a//,  who  was  one  of  Mr.  Wesley's 
pupils  at  Lincoln  college.  He  was  then,  according  to  every  evidence, 
not  hypocritically,  but  deeply  pious ;  though  not  of  a  strong  judgment, 
and  consequently  of  a  fickle  mind.  His  pretensions  were  all  fair,  his 
deportment  correct,  his  education  truly  pious,  his  person  agreeable,  his 
manners  pleasing,  and  his  property  good. 

In  his  addresses  to  Martha,  there  is  no  doubt  he  was  sincere ;  and 
in  order  to  secure  her,  he  took  the  expedient,  common  enough  in  those 
days  to  betroth  her  to  himself.  All  this  was  without  the  knowledge  of 
her  parents,  or  her  brothers,  and  was  done  at  her  uncle's  house  in  Lon- 
don. He  then  accompanied  her  brothers  John  and  Charles  to  Epworth , 
and  there  he  saw  her  sister  Kezzia,  grew  enamoured  of  her,  courted,  ob- 
tained her  consent,  and  that  of  the  family  in  general,  who  knew  nothing 
of  his  pre-engagement  with  Martha;  and  he  was  on  the  point  of  lead- 
ing poor  unconcious  Kezzia  to  the  altar,  when  a  sudden  qualm  of 
conscience  reproached  and  reminded  him  of  his  prior  engagement,  and 
he  came  back  to  Martha.  The  family  were  justly  alarmed  at  his 
conduct ;  in  vain  they  questioned  him  on  the  reason  of  this  change.  v 
He  had  not  honour  enough,  however  sore  his  conscience  was,  candidly 
to  confess  his  prior  engagements  with  Patty  :  but  talked  of  a  •«  re  vela- 


334  MIS3   MARTHA    WESLEY, MRS.    HALL. 

lion  he  had  from  heaven,"  that  he  should  not  marry  Kezzia  but  Martha. 
As  Martha  had  made  the  contract  with  him  without  consulting  her 
parents,  she  was  afraid  to  allege  it  in  her  own  vindication  ;  and  most 
probably  Mr.  Hall  had  bound  her  not  to  discover  the  previous  engage- 
ment. And  she  was  obliged  in  consequence  to  suffer  the  heaviest 
censures  of  her  brothers,  who  regarded  her  as  the  usurper  of  her  sister's 
rights  ;  whereas  had  she  frankly  declared  that  she  had  been  affianced 
to  the  man  before  ever  he  had  even  seen  her  sister  Kezzia,  they  could 
not  have  blamed  her  for  redeeming  her  solemn  pledge ;  though  they 
might  have  judged  her  imprudent  in  putting  herself  in  the  hands  of  a 
man,  who  had  shown  such  a  flexibility  of  affection,  and  such  a  versatility 
of  character.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  used  all  his  artifice  to  per- 
suade Patty  that  his  heart  stood  right,  though  for  a  time  he  had  yielded 
to  violent  temptation.  As  the  family  knew  nothing  of  Patty's  prior 
engagements,  it  is  no  wonder  that,  in  their  strong  method  of  expressing 
themselves,  especially  in  poetry,  they  should  consider  Patty's  marriage 
as  a  kind  of  incest,  as  they  supposed  she  had  in  fact  the  husband  of  her 
sister. 

On  this  occasion  her  brother  Charles  sent  her  the  following  verses, 
which  most  certainly  never  were  designed  to  be  made  public  ;  for  he 
was  afterward  convinced  that  he  had  received  a  very  imperfect  account 
of  the  transaction,  and  even  justified  the  conduct  of  his  sister  : — 

TO  MISS  MARTHA  WESLEY. 

When  want,  and  pain,  and  death,  besiege  our  gate, 
And  every  solemn  moment  teems  with  fate  ; 
While  cloud  and  darkness  fill  the  space  betwesn, 
Perplex  th'  event,  and  shade  the  folded  scene : 
In  humble  silence  wait  th'  unuttered  voice, 
Suspend  thy  will,  and  check  thy  forward  choice  ; 
Yet  wisely  fearful  for  th'  event  prepare  ; 
And  learn  the  dictates  of  a  brother's  care. 
How  fierce  thy  conflict,  how  severe  thy  flight, 
When  hell  assails  the  foremost  sons  of  light  ; 
When  he,  who  long  in  virtue's  paths  had  trod, 
Deaf  to  the  voice  of  conscience  and  of  God, 
Drops  the  fair  mask,  proves  traitor  to  his  vow ; 
And  thou  the  temptress,  and  the  tempted  thou  ! 
Prepare  thee  then  to  meet  the  infernal  war, 
And  dare  beyond  what  woman  knows  to  dare : 
Guard  each  avenue  to  thy  flutt'ring  heart, 
And  act  the  sister's  and  the  Christian's  part. 
Heaven  is  the  guard  of  virtue  ;  scorn  to  yield, 
When  screened  by  Heaven's  impenetrable  shield. 
Secure  in  this,  defy  th'  impending  storm, 
Though  Satan  tempt  thee  in  an  angel's  form. 
And,  O  !  I  see  the  fiery  trial  near ; 
I  see  the  saint,  in  all  his  forms,  appear. 
By  nature,  by  religion,  taught  to  please, 
With  conquest  flush'd,  and  obstinate  to  press, 
He  lists  his  virtues  in  the  cause  of  hell, 
Heaven,  with  celestial  arms  presumes  to  assail ; 
To  veil  with  semblance  fair  the  fiend  within, 
>  And  make  his  God  subservient  to  his  sin  ! 

Trembling  I  hear  his  horrid  vows  renew'd, 
I  see  him  come  hy  Delia's  groans  pursued. 


MISS  MARTHA   WESLEY, MRS.   HALL. 

Poor  injured  Delia!  all  her  groans  are  vain ; 

Or  he  denies,  or  listening  mocks  her  pain. 

What  though  her  eyes  with  ceaseless  tears  o'erflow, 

Her  bosom  heave  with  agonizing  wo ; 

What  though  the  horror  of  his  falsehood  near 

Tear  up  her  faith,  and  plunge  her  in  despair  ; 

Yet  can  he  think,  (so  blind  to  Heaven's  decree, 

And  the  sure  fate  of  curs'd  apostasy) 

Soon  as  he  tells  the  secret  of  his  breast, 

And  puts  the  angel  off — and  stands  confess'd ; 

When  love,  and  grief,  and  shame,  and  anguish  meet 

To  make  his  crimes  and  Delia's  wrongs  complete, 

That  then  the  injured  maid  will  cease  to  grieve ; 

Behold  him  in  a  sister's  arms,  and  live  ! 

Mistaken  wretch — by  thy  unkindness  hurl'd 

From  ease,  from  love,  from  thee,  and  from  the  world ; 

Soon  must  she  land  on  that  immortal  shore, 

Where  falsehood  never  can  torment  her  more : 

There  all  her  sufferings  and  her  sorrows  cease, 

Nor  saints  turn  devils  there  to  vex  her  peace ! 

Yet  hope  not  then,  all  specious  as  thou  art, 

To  taint  with  impious  vows  her  sister's  heart: 

With  proffered  worlds  her  honest  soul  to  move, 

Or  tempt  her  virtue  to  incestuous  love. 

No — wert  thou  as  thou  wast,  did  Heaven's  first  rays 

Beam  on  thy  soul,  and  all  the  Godhead  blaze, 

Sooner  shall  sweet  oblivion  set  us  free 

From  friendship,  love,  thy  perfidy,  and  thee ; 

Sooner  shall  light  in  league  with  darkness  join, 

Virtue  and  rice,  and  heaven  and  hell  combine, 

Than  her  pure  soul  consent  to  mix  with  thine ; 

To  share  thy  sin,  adopt  thy  perjury, 

And  damn  herself  to  be  revenged  on  thee ; 

To  load  her  conscience  with  a  sister's  blood, 

The  guilt  of  incest,  and  the  curse  of  God ! 

Perhaps  this  would  have  been  severe  enough,  had  the  case  been 
even  so  bad  as  Mr.  Charles  conjectured. 

He  had  not  examined  the  business.  Poor  Patty  was  in  London, 
completely  unconscious  of  what  was  going  on  at  Epicorth  ;  and  bore 
the  blame  of  receiving,  for  the  first  time,  the  addresses  of  a  man  who 
had  just  jilted  her  sister.  I  wish  the  reader  to  keep  these  two  facts  in 
view  : — 1.  Patty  was  addressed  by  Hall,  consented  to  be  his  wife,  and 
was  betrothed  to  him  before  he  ever  saw  Kezzia.  She  was  in  London, 
when  Hall  went  down  into  Lincolnshire  ;  and  knew  nothing  of  the 
transaction  with  Kezzia  at  Epworth,  till  a  considerable  time  after  it 
took  place  :  and  had  Hall  then  married  Kezzia,  the  world  would  never 
have  heard  Martha's  complaint,  and  Kezzia  would  have  been  bound  to 
that  miserable  and  profligate  wretch  who  afterward  fell  to  the  lot  of  her 
sister.  When  Martha  found  how  matters  stood,  she  wrote  to  her  mo- 
ther, and  laid  open  the  whole  business,  who  on  this  explanation  wrote 
her  full  consent,  assuring  her  "  that  if  she  had  obtained  the  consent  of 
her  uncle,  there  was  no  obstacle." 

Kezzia,  on  hearing  the  true  relation,  cordially  renounced  all  claim  to 
Hail  ;  and,  from  every  thing  1  have  been  able  to  learn,  sat  as  indiffer- 
ent to  him,  as  if  no  such  transaction  had  ever  existed.  Her  uncle 
Matthew,  with  whom  Patty  lived,  was  so  satisfied  with  her  conduct,  and 


336  MISS  MARTHA   WESLBY, — MRS.    HALL. 

with  the  match,  that  he  gave  her  500/.  on  her  marriage,  and  the  fullest 
testimony  of  "  her  dutiful  and  grateful  conduct  during  the  whole  time 
she  had  resided  in  his  house."  Kezzia  also  gave  the  fullest  testimony 
of  her  approbation  by  choosing  to  go  and  live  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall, 
though  she  had  a  strong  invitation  to  go  and  live  with  her  brother  Sam- 
uel :  and  her  brother  John  was  to  have  given  50/.  per  annum  to  have 
covered  her  expenses. 

The  true  state  of  the  case  was  for  some  years  unknown  to  the 
brothers ;  and  Mr.  Wesley  himself,  in  his  letter  to  Hall,  dated  Dec.  2, 
1747,  charges  him  with  having  "  stolen  Kezzia  from  the  god  of  her 
youth  ;  that  in  consequence  she  refused  to  be  comforted,  and  fell  into 
a  lingering  illness  which  terminated  in  her  death ;  that  her  blood 
still  cried  unto  God  from  the  earth  against  him,  and  that  surely  it  was 
upon  his  head."  That  this  was  Mr.  Wesley's  impression  I  well  know  : 
but  it  is  not  strictly  correct.  I  have  the  almost  dying  assertions  of 
Mrs.  Hall,  delivered  to  her  beloved  niece  Miss  Wesley,  and  by  her 
handed  in  writing  to  me,  that  the  facts  of  the  case  were  as  stated 
above  ; — that  "  so  little  did  Kezzia  regret  her  faithless  lover,  and  so 
fully  sensible  was  she  of  her  sister's  prior  claim,  that  she  chose  to  live 
with  them,  and  lived  in  perfect  harmony  and  comfort  with  her  sister. 
And  so  far  from  this  disappointment  shortening  her  days,  she  resided 
between  five  and  six  years  under  the  same  roof;  and  had  so  completely 
subdued  all  affection  toward  Mr.  Hall  that  she  had  formed  an  attach- 
ment to  another  gentleman,  but  his  death  prevented  the  union." 

This  business  being  afterward  laid  before  Mr.  Charles  Wesley  who 
had  written  the  preceding  severe  lines  to  his  sister,  and  her  prior  en- 
gagement to  Mr.  Hall  being  pleaded,  and  the  cruel  injustice  and  cen- 
sures she  had  suffered,  he  did  not  at  all  dispute  the  premises  ;  saw  that 
Martha  had  fully  justified  herself  on  the  ground  of  her  prior  engage- 
ments ;  but  said,  "  she  should  not  have  mismatched  herself  with  so 
worthless  a  man."  He  never  liked  Hall  afterward,  though  for  a  con- 
siderable time  he  conducted  himself  with  propriety.  During  her  life- 
time it  was  proposed  that  Mrs.  Hall  should  publish  the  real  state  of  the 
case,  that  her  character  might  not  continue  to  lie  under  such  a  load  of 
unmerited  censure  and  calumny.  To  which  she  answered, — "  Once 
I  did  intend  to  do  so  :  but  I  am  now  so  soon  removing  to  another 
world,  where  all  is  known,  and  will  be  made  known,  that  it  is  unimport- 
ant what  mortals  may  think  or  say  of  me."  This  statement  Mrs.  Hall 
took  on  her  conscience  into  the  eternal  world,  and  perhaps  a  more 
upright  and  conscientious  woman  never  drew  the  breath  of  life.  But. 
the  thing  speaks  for  itself.  1.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  such  a  woman 
as  Mrs.  Wesley,  senior,  would  have  unhesitatingly  given  her  consent 
to  her  marriage  with  Hall,  had  she  not  been  perfectly  satisfied  with 
the  propriety  of  her  conduct?  2.  Can  it  be  imagined  that  her  uncle 
Matthew,  who  stood  high  on  his  honour,  would  have  given  his  consent, 
with  the  most  positive  testimony  to  the  excellence  of  her  conduct  while 
in  his  house,  and  sealed  the  whole  on  her  marriage  with  a  present  of 
jive  hundred  pounds,  if  he  had  not  been  persuaded  that  she  had  acted 
honourably  ?  3.  Is  it  at  all  likely  that  a  woman  of  Mrs.  Hall's  tender, 
exquisitely  tender,  and  compassionate  feelings,  would  have  married  to 


MISS  MARTHA   WESLEY, — MRS.    HALL.  337 

break  a  beloved  sister's  heart?  4.  Or  that  this  sister  would  have 
ctwscn  to  have  lived  with  her,  had  she  had  reason  to  believe  her  at  all 
culpable  ?  She  found  out  that  Hall  had  betrothed  her  sister,  but  had 
concealed  it,  caitiff  as  he  was  !  and  finding  that  Patty's  affections 
had  been  engaged,  and  her  claim  prior,  she  resolved  to  show  the  world, 
by  thus  being  with  her,  that  she  had  no  cause  for  resentment  to  the 
sister. 

That  the  brothers  should  think  that  there  was  no  prospect  of  happi- 
ness with  such  a  weathercock,  is  quite  natural  and  reasonable  :  and  it 
is  most  certain  that  Mr.  Charles  Wesley's  severe  verses  were  written 
before  he  was  made  acquainted  with  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
Mrs.  Hall  always  justified  her  own  conduct ;  and  ever  maintained  that 
her  marrying  Hall  gave  no  umbrage  to  Kezzia. 

Her  composure  under  suppositions  and  aspersions  so  injurious  to 
her  fame  was  astonishing.  The  selfish  principle  seemed  annihilated  in 
her ;  and  she  bore  blame  and  obloquy,  rather  than,  by  vindicating 
herself,  involve  others.  She  has  been  loaded  with  invective  ;  and 
the  biographers  of  her  brothers  have  added  to  the  number  of  her 
detracters. 

Mr.  Southey  has  also  been  misled ;  and  his  treatment  of  the 
character  of  this  excellent  woman  is  far  from  candid.  He  not  only 
details  all  that  others  have  said,  who  should  have  informed  themselves 
better :  but  by  his  nervous  and  elegant  language  he  has  given  a  more 
vivid  colouring  to  mistakes  and  slanders,  of  which  I  readily  grant  he 
was  not  the  inventor.  But  the  maxim  De  mortuis  et  absentibm  nil  nisi 
ii'iHum  did  not  sufficiently  govern  his  pen.  It  has  still  been  objected 
"  she  should  not  have  taken  Hall."  I  have  already  shown  that  she  was 
solemnly  betrothed  to  him.  He  became  unfaithful :  but  he  appeared 
to  stop  in  time,  came  back  to  her  a  penitent,  and  alleged  that  God  had 
convinced  him  of  the  vice  of  his  conduct,  when  on  the  point  of  sacri- 
ficing her  peace  and  his  own  conscience.  Could  she,  or  should  she  as 
matters  then  stood,  refuse  him  1  Would  it  have  been  right  to  have 
turned  him  back  again  to  her  deceived  sister  ?  Surely  not.  Nor  could 
Kezzia  have  wedded  him  without  being  guilty  of  that  species  of  incest  of 
which  Mr.  Charles  charged  his  innocent  sister,  at  the  time  he  was 
unacquainted  with  the  true  state  of  the  case. 

Mr.  Southey  says,  that  "  Mrs.  Hall  bore  her  fate  with  resignation, 
and  with  an  inward  consciousness  that  her  punishment  was  not  heavier 
than  her  fault."  This  I  totally  deny  :  she  had  no  such  consciousness. 
Here  feelings  and  the  dictates  of  her  heart  on  this  subject  ever  were, — 

Hie  mums  aheneus  esto, 
Nil  conscirt  ribi  mtU&  pattaseere  cvlp&. 

HOR.  EP.  Lib.  i,  E.  L  ver.  60. 
This  is  my  brazen  bulwark  of  defence, 
A  consciousness  of  spotless  innocence  ; 
The  vile  accuser  still  /  dare  to  meet, 
Nor  e'er  turn  pale,  at  what  Le  dares  repeat. 

Mrs.  Hall  ever  vindicated  her  conduct:  to  her  dying  hour  she 
testified  the  purity  and  approbation  of  her  conscience  in  the  whole 
business ;  and  it  was  the  consciousness  of  having  acted  right  in  the 

43 


338  MISS  MARTHA  WESLEY, — MRS.  HALL. 

sight  of  God  in  this  matter,  that  enabled  her  to  bear  all  his  profligacy 
and  unkind  treatment  with  an  even  mind  and  unbroken  spirit.  And 
suppose  that,  on  the  principles  which  the  detracters  of  this  excellent 
and  injured  woman  hold,  he  had  been  permitted  to  marry  Kezzia, 
would  he  have  been  a  better  husband,  or  a  better  man?  No.  The 
seeds  of  all  his  profligacy  were  deeply  radicated  in  him ;  and  they 
would  have  produced  their  correspondent  fruits,  had  he  been  married 
to  an  angel.  He  was  a  man  of  no  mind :  when  even  sincere,  he  acted 
not  by  Scripture,  or  reason,  but  by  impulse.  He  did  not  consult  his 
judgment,  for  he  had  but  little  to  consult ;  and  had  he  been  any  where 
out  of  paradise,  he  would  have  been  a  versatile,  shatter-brained,  and 
by  turns,  a  pious  and  profligate  man.  Let  his  natural  fickleness  of 
character,  and  his  imbecility  of  mind,  tell,  as  far  as  it  may,  in  vindica- 
tion of  his  conduct.  He  is  gone  to  another  world  and  his  judgment 
is  with  God ! 

I  rejoice  that  it  has  been  in  my  power  to  withdraw  the  thick  veil  that 
has  been  spread  over  this  woman's  innocence.  I  can  assure  my  read- 
ers, that  I  have  not  advanced  a  single  fact  that  is  not  founded  on 
unexceptionable  documents ;  and  that  I  can  produce  both  written  and 
oral  testimony  to  confirm  the  whole.  The  farther  anecdotes  and  facts 
which  I  shall  shortly  produce  will  serve  still  more  particularly  to  illus- 
trate the  unimpeachable  character  of  this  woman,  and  to  confirm  the 
reader  in  his  conviction  of  her  innocence. 

As  the  circumstances  above  related  were  little  known  to  the  public, 
if  at  all,  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Wesley  Hall  and  Miss  Patty  Wesley 
became  the  subject  of  public  congratulation. 

I  shall  subjoin  a  copy  of  verses  printed  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
for  September  1735,  p.  551,  in  which  year  Miss  M.  Wesley  was 
married  to  Mr.  W.  Hall. 

ON  THE  MARRIAGE 

OF  MR.   WESLEY  HALL  TO  MISS  PATTT   WESLET. 

Hymen,  light  thy  purest  flame, 

Every  sacred  rite  prepare ; 
Never  to  thy  altar  came 

A  more  pious  faithful  pair. 

Thee,  dispensing  mighty  pleasure, 

Rashly  sensual  minds  invoke ; 
Only  those  partake  thy  treasure 

Paired  in  virtue's  easy  yoke. 

Such  are  Hall  and  Wesley  joining, 

Kindred  souls  with  plighting  hands, 
Each  to  each  entire  resigning, 

One  become  by  nuptial  bands. 

Happy  union,  which  destroys 

Half  the  ills  of  life  below  ; 
But  the  current  of  our  joys 

Makes  with  double  vigour  flow. 

Sympathizing  friends  abate 
The  severer  strokes  of  fate ; 


MISS  MARTHA   WESLKT, MRS     HALL.  339 

Happy  liours,  still  happier  prove 
When  they  smile  011  those  we  love, 

Joys  to  vulgar  minds  unknown 

Shall  their  daily  converse  crown ; 
Easy  slumbers,  pure  delights,  i 

Bless  their  ever  peaceful  nights. 

O  Lucina,  sacred  power,  « 

Here  employ  thy  grateful  care ; 
Smiling  on  the  geniaj  hour, 

Give  an  offspring  wise  and  fair! 

That,  when  the  zealous  sire  shall  charm  no  more 

Th'  attentive  audience  with  his  sacred  lore, 

Those  lips  in  silence  closed,  whose  heavenly  skill 

Could  raptures  with  persuasive  words  instil ; 

A  5<m  may  in  the  important  work  engage, 

And  with  his  precepts  mend  the  future  age  ; 

That  when  the  accomplished  mother,  snatch'd  by  fate, 

No  more  shall  grace  the  matrimonial  state ; 

No  more  exhibit  in  her  virtuous  life 

The  bright  exemplar  of  a  perfect  wife  ; 

A  daughter,  blest  with  each  maternal  grace, 

May  shine  the  pattern  of  the  female  race !  J-  DUICK. 

As  to  i\ie  father  and  his  offspring  these  prayers  were  not  answered  : 
but  the  whole  conduct  of  Mrs.  Hall,  during  this  unfortunate  marriage, 
•lul  prove  her  to  be 

"The  bright  exemplar  of  a  perfect  wife." 

Mr.  Hall  passed  from  change  to  change,  still  in  the  deteriorating  ratio  ; 
and  from  excess  to  excess  in  the  ratio  of  geometrical  progression,  till 
he  became  a  proverb  of  reproach  and  shame  ; — 

The  vilest  husband,  and  the  worst  of  men. 

And  on  January  6,  1776,  he  died  at;  Bristol,  probably  a  penitent, 
exclaiming  in  his  last  hours,  as  Mrs.  Hutchins  testified,  "  I  have 
injured  an  angel !  an  angel  that  never  reproached  me  !" 

Those  who  wish  to  see  a  full  account  of  his  delinquencies  may  con- 
sult the  faithful  letter  sent  to  him  by  Mr.  John  Wesley,  December  22, 
1747,  in  his  Journals,  vol.  iii,  p.  411. 

Of  his  death  Mr.  Wesley  speaks  thus  : — 

"  I  came  (to  Bristol)  just  time  enough,  not  to  set,  but  to  bury,  poor 
Mr.  Hall,  my  brother-in-law,  who  died  on  Wednesday  morning,  Janu- 
ary 6, 1776, 1  trust  in  peace  ;  for  God  had  given  him  deep  repentance. 
Such  another  monument  of  Divine  mercy,  considering  how  low  he  had 
(alien,  and  from  what  heights  of  holiness,  I  have  not  seen,  no  not  in 
seventy  years.  I  had  designed  to  have"  visited  him  in  the  morning : 
but  he  did  not  stay  for  my  coming.  It  is  enough,  if  after  all  his  wan- 
derings we  meet  again  in  Abraham's  bosom."  Journal,  vol.  ir,  p.  447. 

I  need  scarcely  say,  that  Mr.  Hall,  who  was  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  had  a  curacy  at  Salisbury,  became  a  Moravian 
and  Quietest,  an  Jlntinomian,  a  Deial,  if  not  an  Jitheisl,  and  a  Polyga- 
t,  which  last  he  defended  in  his  teaching,  and  illustrated  by  hi* 


340  MISS   MARTHA    WESLEY, — MRS.    HALL. 

practice.  He  married  Miss  Patty  Wesley  in  1735,  and  died  in  1776, 
being  her  husband  for  about  forty  years. 

Having  cleared  Mrs.  Hall's  character  and  conduct  in  reference  to 
her  marriage,  it  may  be  necessary  to  consider  her  behaviour  as  a  wife 
to  one  of  the  worst  and  most  unkind  of  husbands.  I  will  adduce  one 
instance  recorded  by  witnesses  on  the  spot,  and  corroborated  by  her- 
self, on  being  questioned  as  to  its  truth. 

When  they  lived  at  Fullerton,  near  Salisbury,  whefe  they  had  a 
large  house  and  garden,  near  the  church  where  he  ministered,  she  had 
taken  a  young  woman  into  the  house  as  a  seamstress,  whom  Mr.  Hall 
seduced ;  these  were  the  beginning  of  his  ways.  Mrs.  Hall,  being 
quite  unsuspicious,  was  utterly  ignorant  of  any  improper  attachment 
between  her  husband  and  the  girl. 

Finding  the  time  of  the  young  woman's  travail  drawing  near,  he 
feigned  a  call  to  London  on  some  important  business,  and  departed. 
Soon  after  his  departure,  the  woman  fell  in  labour.  Mrs.  Hall,  one  of 
the  most  feeling  and  considerate  of  women  on  such  occasions,  ordered 
her  servants  to  go  instantly  for  a  doctor.  They  all  refused  ;  and  when 
she  had  remonstrated  with  them  on  their  inhumanity,  they  completed 
her  surprise  by  informing  her  that  the  girl,  to  whom  they  gave  any 
thing  but  her  own  name,  was  in  labour  through  her  criminal  connection 
with  Mr.  Hall,  and  that  they  all  knew  her  guilt  long  before.  She 
heard,  without  betraying  any  emotion,  what  she  had  not  before  even 
suspected,  and  repeated  her  commands  for  assistance.  They,  full  of 
indignation  at  the  unfortunate  creature,  and  strangely  inhuman,  abso- 
lutely refused  to  obey ;  on  which  Mrs.  Hall  immediately  went  out 
herself,  and  brought  in  a  midwife ;  called  on  a  neighbour;  divided  the 
only  six  pounds  she  had  in  the  house,  and  deposited  jive  with  her,  who 
was  astonished  at  her  conduct ;  enjoined  kind  treatment,  and  no  re- 
proaches ;  and  then  set  o(F  for  London,  found  her  husband,  related  in 
her  own  mild  manner  the  circumstances,  told  him  what  she  had  done, 
and  prevailed  upon  him  to  return  to  Salisbury  as  soon  as  the  young 
woman  could  be  removed  from  the  house.  He  thought  the  conduct 
of  his  wife  not  only  Christian,  but  heroic ;  and  was  for  a  time  suitably 
affected  by  it :  but  having  embraced  the  doctrine  of  polygamy,  his 
reformation  was  but  of  a  short  continuance.  Mr.  Hall  was  guilty  of 
many  similar  infidelities ;  and  after  being  the  father  of  ten  children  by 
his  wife,  nine  of  whom  lie  buried  at  Salisbury,  he  abandoned  his  family, 
went  off  to  Ireland  with  one  of  his  mistresses,  and  his  wife  never  saw 
him  more.  Notwithstanding  all  this  treatment,  Mrs.  Hall  was  never 
heard  to  speak  of  him  but  with  kindness.  She  often  expressed  wonder 
that  women  should  profess  to  love  their  husbands  and  yet  dwell  upon 
their  faults,  or  indeed  upon  those  of  their  friends.  She  was  never 
known  to  speak  evil  of  any  person. 

Give  me  to  feel  another's  wo ; 
To  hide  the  faults  I  see, — 

was  her  maxim :  exposure  of  vice  she  believed  never  did  any  good. 
*'  Tell  your  neighbour  his  fault,"  sard  she, "  between  him  and  you  alone ; 
— when  you  censure,  spare  not  the  vice — but  the  name." 


MISS  MARTHA   WE3I.F.Y, — MRS.    HAM..  341 

Her  only  remaining  child,  Wesley  Hall,  was  a  very  promising 
youth ;  he  lived  till  he  was  fourteen,  and  then  died  of  the  small-pox. 
He  was  educated  at  the  expense  of  his  uncles  'John  and  Charles. 
When  his  life  was  despaired  of,  his  mother  was  sent  for :  but  she  came 
too  late ;  the  amiable  youth  had  breathed  his  last  before  her  arrival. 
Her  tenderness  as  a  mother  was  known  to  be  so  great,  that  they  dread- 
ed the  effect  this  melancholy  event  might  have  on  her  mind  when  she 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  it,  especially  as  there  had  been  a  very  repre- 
hensible want  of  care  in  the  family  where  he  was  boarded,  which  was 
supposed  to  have  at  least  accelerated,  if  jiot  caused,  his  death.  But 
she  bowed  to  this  dispensation  of  Providence,  which  had  deprived  her 
of  her  last  earthly  hope  and  support :  she  bore  the  dreadful  stroke  with 
humility,  meekness,  and  fortitude.  No  reflections  on  second  causes, 
— no  violence  of  grief, — no  complaints  of  her  bitter  fate  ; — all  her  con- 
duct evinced  the  Christian,  and  the  Christian  parent. 

Some  have  supposed  that  there  must  have  been  an  apathy  in  her 
nature  tkus  to  bear  the  most  grievous  wrongs,  and  the  heaviest  losses  : 
but  such  persons  have  not  considered  to  what  heights  of  excellence  the 
human  mind  may  be  exalted  by  reason  and  religion. 

When  Mr.  Charles  Wesley  asked  her  "  how  she  could  give  money," 
as  previously  related,  "to  her  husband's  concubine?"  she  answered, 
44 1  knew  I  could  obtain  what  I  wanted  from  many  :  but  she,  poor,  hap- 
less creature  !  could  not :  many  thinking  it  meritorious  to  abandon  her 
to  the  distress  which  she  had  brought  upon  herself.  Pity  is  due  to  the 
wicktd;  the  good  claim  esteem  :  beside,  I  did  not  act  as  a  woman,  but 
as  a  Christian." 

There  are  several  still  alive  who  can  attest  her  sensibility  :  the  poor, 
the  sick,  the  afflicted  of  all  descriptions,  excited  in  her  the  deepest  feel- 
ings of  sympathy.  Like  her  brother  John,  she  was  ready  to  bear  the 
burthen  of  every  sufferer  ;  to  deny  herself  the  necessaries  of  life  in 
order  to  relieve  the  needy;  and  to  be  stoical  in  no  sufferings  but  her  own. 

This  was  the  character  of  the  founder  of  Methodism  ;  this  was  that 
of  his  excellent  sister.  Her  charity  was  unbounded  ;  and  the  charity 
of  a  person  reduced  to  an  income  so  limited  was  "  the  munificence  of 
the  widow's  mite,  founded  on  self-denial."  Her  brother,  Mr.  Charles 
Wesley,  has  said,  "  It  is  in  vain  to  give  Pat  any  thing  to  add  to  her 
comforts ;  for  she  always  gives  it  away  to  some  person  poorer  than 
herself." 

Another  instance  will  farther  illustrate  this  part  of  her  character.  In 
proportion  as  Mr.  Hall  advanced  in  profligacy,  he  lost  all  sense  of 
decorum,  and  that  shame  which  in  all  bad  characters,  not  wholly  aban- 
doned to  vice,  usually  accompanies  the  exposure  of  guilt.  He  had  the 
frontless  inhumanity  one  day  to  bring  in  one  of  his  illegitimate  infants ; 
and  he  ordered  his  wife  to  take  charge'of  it  till  he  could  provide  it  with 
a  suitable  situation.  She  ordered  a  cradle  to  be  brought,  placed  the 
babe  in  it,  and  continued  to  perform  for  it  all  requisite  acts  of  humanity. 

While  nursing  this  illegitimate,  her  only  remaining  child,  Wesley 
Hall,  of  whom  1  have  already  spoken,  had  by  some  means  displeased 
his  father,  who  had  now  as  little  government  of  his  temper  as  he  had  of 
his  passions ;  for  under  a  course  of  such  transgressions  a  man  usually 


!342  MISS   MARTHA    WESLEY, MRS.    HALL. 

becomes  a  sot  or  a  fury.  He  rose  up  in  a  violent  rage,  thrust  the  child 
into  a  dark  closet,  and  locked  him  up.  The  child  was  terrified  to  dis- 
traction. Mrs.  Hall  with  her  usual  calmness,  desired  him  to  release 
the  child.  He  refused; — she  entreated, — he  was  resolute: — she  as- 
serted that  the  punishment  was  far  beyond  the  fault ; — lie  still  hesitated. 
She  then  summoned  up  the  more  than  female  dignity  and  courage  which 
formed  that  part  of  her  character  that  led  her  to  decide  on  that  line  of 
conduct  which  she  ought  to  pursue,  from  the  evidence  brought  to  her 
reason  and  conscience,  and  thus  addressed  him, — "  Sir,  thank  the  grace 
of  God,  that  while  my  child  is  thus  cruelly  treated,  suffering  to  distrac- 
tion a  punishment  he  has  not  merited,  I  had  not  turned  your  babe  out  of 
the  cradle ;  but  you  must  go  and  unlock  the  closet,  and  release  the  child 
or  /  will  immediately  do  it."  This  tone  was  too  decisive  to  be  treated 
with  either  neglect  or  contempt.  Mr.  Hall  arose,  and  unlocked  the 
closet  and  released  the  child.  Even  in  this  trifling  case,  her  cool  phi- 
losophy was  as  much  in  action  as  her  piety  :  she  wished  the  authority 
of  the  father  to  be  preserved,  that  it  might  appear  to  the  child  that  the 
same  mouth  which  had  pronounced  the  sentence  might  pronounce  its 
repeal ;  and  that  the  hand  that  had  committed  to  prison  might  effect  its 
discharge. 

It  is  a  hapless  case  when  the  parents  are  not  agreed  either  in  the 
management  or  correction  of  their  children  :  from  the  minds  of  children 
thus  treated  it  removes  all  sense  of  moral  good  and  evil ; — they  see  their 
parents  are  not  agreed  in  their  correction,  and  they  are  led  in  conse- 
quence to  consider  the  punishment  to  be  arbitrary  and  cruel.  They 
hate  the  corrector  and  love  the  intercessor,  or  that  one  who  takes  their 
part ;  and  it  is  a  million  to  one,  humanly  speaking,  that  what  is  called 
the  moral  sense  will  be,  in  consequence,  utterly  obliterated  from  their 
minds. 

Mrs.  Hall  could  not  endure  the  sight  of  misery  which  she  could  not 
relieve  ;  it  quite  overwhelmed  her.  One  day  she  came  to  the  house 
of  her  brother  Charles,  apparently  sinking  under  distress,  and  looking 
like  a  corpse.  On  inquiry  it  was  found  that  a  hapless .  woman  had 
come  to  her,  and  related  such  a  tale  of  real  wo,  that  she  took  the  crea- 
ture into  her  own  lodging,  and  had  kept  her  for  three  days  ;  and  the 
continual  sight  of  her  wretchedness,  wretchedness  that  she  could  not 
fully  relieve,  so  affected  her,  that  her  own  life  was  sinking  to  the  grave. 
The  case  was  immediately  made  known  to  that  son  of  consolation,  her 
brother  John,  whose  eye  and  ear  never  failed  to  affect  his  heart  at  the 
sight  or  tale  of  misery.  He  took  immediate  charge  of  his  sister's  un- 
fortunate guest,  and  had  her  provided  for  according  to  her  wants  and 
distresses. 

All  Mrs.  Hall's  movements  were  deliberate,  slow,  and  steady.  In 
her  eye,  her  step,  her  speech,  there  appeared  an  innate  dignity  and 
superiority ;  which  were  so  mingled  with  gentleness  and  good  nature, 
as  ever  to  excite  respect  and  reverence,  but  never  fear  ;  for  all  children 
loved  her,  and  sought  her  company. 

Her  safety  excited  much  anxiety  in  the  minds  of  her  friends.  When 
at  an  advanced  age,  she  would  take  long  walks  through  crowded  streets; 
for  she  never  quickened  her  pace  in  crossings,  even  when  carriages 


MISS   MARTHA   WESLEY, — MRS    HALL.  343 

were  in  full  drive.  Her  niece  Miss  Wesley  being  one  day  with  her  in 
JBloomsbury-square,  when  a  coach  was  closely  following,  urged  her,  but 
in  vain,  to  quicken  her  pate.  Striving  to  pull  her  out  of  the  way  of 
danger,  she  unluckily  pulled  her  off  her  feet  just  before  the  horses. 
When  she  got  up,  she  calmly  observed,  that  "  the  probability  of  being 
injured  by  a  fall,  was  greater  than  of  being  run  over  by  the  coachman, 
who  could  gain  no  advantage  by  it ;  on  the  contrary  much  disadvantage 
and  expense."  These  remarks  she  made  to  her  niece  standing  in  the 
crossing,  with  horses  trampling  before  and  behind.  Fortunately  the 
coachman  had  pulled  up  his  horses,  or  they  had  both  been  under  the 
wheels  long  before  the  speech  was  finished. 

She  spent  much  time,  at  his  own  particular  request,  with  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  who  was  strongly  attached  to  her,  and  ever  treated  her  with 
high  reverence  and  respect.  The  injuries  she  had  sustained,  and  the 
manner  in  which  she  had  borne  them,  could  not  but  excite  the  esteem 
of  such  a  mind  as  his. 

They  often  disputed  together  on  matters  of  theological  and  moral  phi- 
losophy ;  and  in  their  differences  of  opinion,  for  they  often  differed,  he 
never  treated  her  with  that  asperity  with  which  he  often  treated  those 
opponents  who  appeared  to  plume  themselves  on  their  acquirements. 
He  wished  her  very  much  to  become  an  inmate  in  his  house ;  and  she 
would  have  done  so,  had  she  not  feared  to  provoke  the  jealousy  of  the 
two  females  already  there,  Mrs.  Williams  and  Mrs.  Du  Moulin,  who 
had  long  resided  under  his  roof,  and  whose  queer  tempers  much  embit- 
tered his  social  hours  and  comforts.  She  ventured  to  tell  him  the  rea- 
son ;  and  he  felt  its  cogency,  as  no  doubt  the  comparison  between  the 
tempers  would  have  created  much  ill-will.  As  a  frequent  visiler,  even 
they,  cross-tempered  as  they  were,  highly  valued  Mrs.  Hall. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  Dr.  Johnson  valued  her  conversation.  In  many 
cases  it  supplied  the  absence  of  books :  her  memory  was  a  repository 
of  the  most  striking  events  of  past  centuries ;  and  she  had  the  best 
parts  of  all  our  poets  by  heart.  She  delighted  in  literary  discussions^ 
and  moral  argumentations,  not  for  the  display  but  the  exercise  of  her 
mental  faculties,  and  to  increase  her  fund  of  useful  knowledge  ;  and 
she  bore  opposition  with  the  same  composure  as  regulated  all  the  other 
parts  of  her  conduct. 

The  young  and  experienced,  who  had  promising  abilities,  she  ex- 
horted to  avoid  that  blind  admiration  of  talents,  which  is  apt  to  regard 
temper  and  the  moral  virtues  as  secondary  ;  and  infused  an  abhorrence 
of  that  satire  and  ridicule  which  too  often  accompany  wit.  Of  icil,  she 
used  to  say,  she  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  who  did  not  possess  it ; 
and  Mr.  Charles  Wesley  used  to  remark,  that  "  sister  Patty  was  always 
too  wise  to  be  witty."  Yet  she  was  very  capable  of  acute  remark  ;  and 
once  at  Dr.  Johnson's  house,  when  she  was  on  a  grave  discussion,  she 
made  one  which  turned  the  laugh  against  him,  in  which  he  cordially 
joined,  as  he  felt  its  propriety  and  force. 

In  his  house  at  Bolt-Court,  one  day  when  Mrs.  Hall  was  pri-smi, 
the  doctor  began  to  expatiate  on  the  unhappincss  of  human  life.  Mrs. 
Hall  said,  "Doctor,  you  have  always  lived  among  the  wit$,  not  the 
saints ;  and  they  are  a  race  of  people  the  most  unlikely  to  seek  true 


344  MISS   MARTHA   WESLEY, — MRS.    HALL. 

happiness,  or  find  the  pearl  without  price."  I  have  already  remarked, 
that  she  delighted  in  theological  discussions.  It  was  her  frequent  cus- 
tom to  dwell  on  the  goodness  of  God,  in  giving  his  creatures  LAWS  ; 
observing  "  that  what  would  have  been  the  inclination  of  a  kind  nature, 
was  made  a  command,  that  our  benevolent  Creator  might  reward  it ;  he 
thus  condescending  to  prescribe  that  as  a  duty,  which,  to  a  regenerate 
mind,  must  have  been  a  wish  and  delight,  had  it  not  been  prescribed." 
She  loved  the  name  of  duties  ;  and  ever  blessed  her  gracious  Redeemer, 
who  enabled  her  to  discharge  them.  In  a  conversation  there  was  a 
remark  made,  that  the  public  voice  was  the  voice  of  truth,  universally 
recognized ;  whence  the  proverb,  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei.  This  Mrs. 
Hall  strenuously  contested;  and  said  the  "public  voice"  in  Pilate's 
hall  was,  Crucify  him  !  Crucify  him  ! 

She  had  an  innate  horror  of  melancholy  subjects.  "  Those  persons," 
she  maintained,  "  could  not  have  real  feeling,  who  could  delight  to  see 
or  to  hear  details  of  misery  they  could  not  relieve,  or  descriptions  of 
cruelly  which  they  could  not  punish.  Nor  did  she  like  to  speak  of 
death :  it  was  heaven,  the  society  of  the  blessed,  and  the  deliverance 
of  the  happy  spirit  from  this  tabernacle  of  clay,  not  the  pang  of  separa- 
tion, (of  which  she  always  expressed  a  fear,)  on  which  she  delighted  to 
dwell.  She  could  not  behold  a  corpse,  "  because,"  said  she,  "  it  is 
beholding  sin  sitting  upon  his  throne."  She  objected  strongly  to  those 
lines  in  Mr.  Charles  Wesley's  Funeral  Hymns  : — 

"Ah  lovely  appearance  of  death ; 
What  sight  upon  earth  is  so  fair,"  &c. 

Her  favourite  hymn  among  these  was, 

"  Rejoice  for  a  brother  deceased,"  &c. 

Few  persons  could  be  mentioned  of  whom  she  had  not  something 
good  to  say;  and  if  their  faults  were  glaring,  she  would  plead  the  in- 
fluence of  circumstances,  education,  and  sudden  temptation,  to  which  all 
imprisoned  in  a  tenement  of  clay  were  liable,  and  by  which  their  actions 
were  often  influenced :  yet  she  was  no  apologist  for  bad  systems ;  for 
she  thought  with  an  old  Puritan,  that  a  fault  in  an  individual  was  like  a 
fever ;  but  a  bad  principle  resembled  a  plague,  spreading  desolation 
and  death  over  the  community.  Few  persons  feel  as  they  should  for 
the  transgression,  which  is  the  effect  of  sudden  temptation  to  a  well 
circumstanced  sin. 

She  did  not  believe  that  the  soul  had  its  origin  ex  traduce,  but  that  it 
was  pre-existent ;  which  she  said  accounted  best  for  the  astonishing 
difference  in  human  beings  from  infancy.  Soame  Jennings  has  written 
on  this  subject,  and  many  of  his  reasonings  on  this  point  are  the  same 
with  those  she  was  accustomed  to  use.* 

It  excited  her  surprise  that  women  should  dispute  the  authority  which 
God  gave  the  husband  over  the  wife.  -"4t  is,"  said  she,  "  so  clearly 
expressed  in  Scripture,  that  one  would  suppose  such  wives  had  never 
read  their  Bible."  But  she  allowed  that  this  authority  was  only  given 

*  See,  on  this  controversy,  Wesley's  Works,  published  at  the  Methodist  Book 
Room,  14  Crosby-street,  New-York,  vol.  iv,  p.  163,  date,  Oct.  1763:  and  Fletcher's 
"  Appeal  to  Matter  of  Fact,"  &c. 


MISS  JVIAKTMA   WES1.EV, — MRS.    HALL.  345 

after  the  Jail,  not  before  :  but  "  the  woman,"  said  she,  "  who  contests 
this  authority  should  not  marry."  Vixen  and  unruly  wives  did  not 
relish  her  opinions  on  this  subject ;  and  her  example  they  could  never 
forgive. 

In  all  her  relations,  and  in  all  her  concerns,  she  loved  ORDER.  "  Or- 
der  is  Heaven's  first  law"  was  a  frequent  quotation  of  hers  ;  it  produces, 
she  would  say,  universal  harmony. 

Conversing  on  the  times  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  the  conduct  of  the 
republicans,  she  got  a  little  excited,  and  said,  "  The  devil  uas  the  first 
Independent." 

The  Works  of  Dean  Swift  were  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  the 
Wesley  family,  but  herself.  She  could  not  endure  the  description  of 
the  Yahoos  in  Gulliver's  Travels ;  and  considered  it  as  a  reflection  on 
the  Creator,  thus  to  ridicule  the  works  of  his  hands.  His  Tale  of  a 
Tub  she  considered  as  too  irreverent  to  be  atoned  for  by  the  it-it. 

Of  her  sufferings  she  spake  so  little,  that  they  could  not  be  learned 
from  herself;  I  could  only  get  acquainted  with  those  I  knew  from  other 
branches  of  the  family.  Her  blessings,  and  the  advantages  she  enjoyed, 
she  was  continually  recounting.  ".Ein/,"  she  used  to  say,  "was  not 
kept  from  me  :  but  evil  has  been  kept  from  harming  me." 

Her  manner  of  reproving  sin  was  so  gentle,  so  evidently  the  effect  of 
love,  that  no  one  was  ever  known  to  be  offended  at  it.  Young  people 
were  so  certain  of  her  kindness,  if  they  erred,  that  she  was  often  chosen 
as  a  confessor  among  them. 

Though  she  abhorred  every  thing  relative  to  death,  considering  it  as 
the  triumph  of  sin ;  yet  she  spoke  of  her  own  removal  with  serenity. 
When  her  niece  Miss  Wesley  asked  her  if  she  would  wish  that  she 
should  attend  her  in  her  last  moments,  she  answered,  "  Yes,  if  you  are 
able  to  bear  it :  but  I  charge  you  not  to  grieve  more  than  half  an  hour.^' 

Though  she  had  a  small  pwperty  of  her  own,  yet  she  was  princi- 
pally dependent  on  the  bounty  of  her  brothers,  after  her  husband  had 
deserted  her;  and  here  was  a  striking  illustration  of  the  remark,  that 
"  in  noble  natures  benefits  do  not  diminish  love  on  either  side."  She 
left  to  her  niece,  whom  she  dearly  loved,  and  who  well  knew  how  to 
prize  so  valuable  a  woman,  the  little  remains  of  hef  fortune,  who  in  vain 
urged  her  to  sink  it  on  her  own  life,  in  order  to  procure  her  a  few  more 
comforts. 

Mr.  Wesley,  at  his  death,  bequeathed  her  401. ,  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  his  books  : — This  was  little  ;  but  he  had  nothing 
to  leave;  this  I  well  know,  being  one  of  his  seven  executors  in  trust. 
He  had  engaged  to  pay  certain  sums,  which  would  have  been  paid  out 
of  the  produce  of  his  writings  had  he  lived  ;  to  discharge  which,  the 
trustees  above  mentioned  were  obliged  to  borrow  the  money!  So  much 
did  he  acquire  by  being  the  head  of  a  large  party  ;  and  after  preaching 
the  Gospel  for  sixty  years !  Mrs.  Hall  did  not  live  to  enjoy  thia 
legacy,  as  she  died  the  same  year  with  her  brother. 
•  Her  niece  Miss  Wesley  was  with  her  in  her  last  moments  :  but  thia 
she  permitted  on  the  sole  condition  that  she  should  not  sleep  at  her 
'Mrs.  Hall's)  lodgings,  "lest,"  as  she  said  to  her,  "you  should  not 
sleep,  and  your  anxiety  might  create  mine." 

44 


346  MISS   MARTHA   WESLEY, MRS.   HALL. 

She  had  no  disease,  but  a  mere  decay  of  nature.  She  spoke  of  her 
dissolution  with  the  ^same  tranquillity  with  which  she  spoke  of  every 
thing  else.  A  little  before  her  departure  she  called  Miss  Wesley  to 
her  bed-side,  and  said,  "  I  have  now  a  sensationjthat  convinces  me  my 
departure  is  near;  the  heart  strings  seem  gently,  but  entirely,  loosened." 

Miss  Wesley  asked  her  if  she  was  in  pain  ?  "  No,"  said  she,  "  but  a 
new  feeling."  Just  before  she  closed  her  eyes  she  bade  her  niece 
come  near — she  pressed  her  hand,  and  said,  "  I  have  the  assurance 
which  I  have  long  prayed  for :  Shout!"  said  she,  and  expired.  Thus 
her  noble  and  happy  spirit  passed  into  the  presence  of  her  Redeemer, 
on  the  12th  of  July,  1791,  about  four  months  and  nine  days  after  the 
death  of  her  brother  John. 

I  shall  close  this  account  with  a  few  words  extracted  from  one  of 
Miss  Wesley's  letters  now  before  me. 

"  Mrs.  Susanna  Wesley  was  a  noble  creature :  but  her  trials  were 
not  such  as  Mrs.  Hall's.  Wounded  in  her  affections  in  the  tenderest 
part ;  deserted  by  the  husband  she  so  much  loved  :  bereaved  of  her  ten 
children  ;  falsely  accused  of  taking  her  sister's  lover,  whereas,  though 
ignorantly,  that  sister  had  taken  him,  from  her;  reduced  from  ample 
competency  to  a  narrow  income ; — yet  no  complaint  was  heard  from 
her  lips !  Her  serenity  was  undisturbed,  and  her  peace  beyond  the 
reach  of  calamity.  Active  virtues  command  applause ;  they  are  apparent 
to  every  eye  :  but  the  passive  are  only  known  to  Him  by  whom  they  are 
registered  on  high,  where  the  silent  sufferer  shall  meet  the  full  reward.'* 

So  magnanimous  a  soul,  so  devoid  of  self,  so  unmoved  by  injury, 
so  steadily  religious,  so  compassionate  to  her  fellow  creatures,  so  tho- 
roughly devoted  to  God  ; — to  say  nothing  of  the  other,  is  rarely  found 
among  the  female  sex ! 

Mrs.  Hall,  who,  we  have  seen,  resembled  her  brother  so  remarka- 
bly in  her  person,  and  in  the  qualities  of  her  mind,  and  between  whom 
and  him  there  was  so  much  intense  affection  throughout  life,  was  not 
separated  from  him  in  death.  She  lies  in  the  same  vault  in  which 
Mr.  John  Wesley's  remains  were  interred  but  a  few  months  before. 
She  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  original  Wesley  family ;  her  father, 
mother,  brothers,  and  sisters,  having  all  died  before  her. 

When  I  first  saw  this  excellent  and  interesting  woman  in  1783,  I 
little  thought  that  forty  years  after  I  should  be  led  in  the  course  of 
Providence  to  rescue  her  character  from  detraction,  and  erect  a  mon- 
ument to  her  memory.  Among  those  who  knew  her,  she  had  as  many 
admirers  as  acquaintances  ;  her  detractors  have  been  few  ;  and  those 
must  be  sought  among  the  biographers  of  her  brothers ;  some  of  whom 
have  dealt,  in  more  than  her  case,  in  matters  too  hard  for  them,  and 
written  of  those  things  which  they  did  not  understand. 

Ag  far  as  they  did  this  ignorantly ,  none  can  be  more  ready  than  my- 
self to  plead  their  excuse ! 


CHARLES    AND   KEZZIA.   WESLEY.  347 

THE  REV.  CHARLES  WESLEY. 

Charles  Wesley,  A.  M.,  student  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  youngest 
son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley,  rector  of  Epworth,  and  Susanna  his 
wife,  was  born  at  Epworth,  December  18,  1708 ;  and  died  in  London, 
March  29,  1788,  aged  seventy-nine. years  and  three  months. 

He  was  a  good  man,  a  powerful  preacher,  and  the  best  Christian 
poet,  in  reference  to  hymnoiogy,  that  has  flourished  in  either  ancient  or 
modern  times.  The  hymns  used  in  the  religious  service  of  the  Me- 
thodists were  composed  principally  by  him;  *nd  such  a  collection  exists 
not  among  any  other  people.  Most  collections  among  other  sects  of 
Christians  are  indebted  to  his  compositions  for  some  of  their  principal 
excellencies. 

Mr.  Charles  Wesley's  Life,  in  connection  with  that  of  his  brother 
John,  has  been  written  by  Ur.  Coke  and  Mr.  Moore  ;  by  Dr.  White- 
head  ;  and  lately  by  Dr.  Robert  Southey,  poet  laureat.  Of  all  these 
Dr.  Whitehead's  account  claims  the  preference,  as  formed  from  Mr.  C. 
Wesley's  own  diary. 


MISS  KEZZIA  WESLEY. 

Kezzia,  called  in  the  family  papers  Kezze  and  Kez,  appears  to  have 
been  the  youngest  child  of  the  Wesley  family.  The  fact  in  her  history 
of  most  importance  is  that  which  has  been  so  largely  considered  in  the 
history  of  her  sister,  Martha  Hall,  to  which  I  must  refer  the  reader., 

About  1730  Miss  Kezzy  became  a  teacher  in  a  boarding  school  in 
Lincoln,  where  she  did  not  enjoy  good  health.  Indeed  she  was  much 
afflicted  all  through  life,  in  consequence  of  which  she  was  prevented 
from  improving  a  mind  that  seems  to  have  been  capable  of  high  culti- 
vation. She  wrote  a  peculiarly  neat  and  beautiful  hand,  even  more  so 
than  that  of  her  sister  Emily. 

Her  brother  Mr.  John  Wesley,  wrote  frequently  to  her ;  and  gave  her 
directions  both  for  the  improvement  of  her  mind,  and  her  increase  in 
true  religion. 

To  a  letter  of  this  description,  in  which  he  recommends  a  regular 
course  of  reading,  mentions  the  proper  books,  &c,  and  the  best  manner 
of  using  them,  she  thus  replies  ;  and  painfully  shows  how  much  she 
was  prevented  by  the  res  angusla  domi  from  cultivating  her  mind  as  she 
wished : — 

"  Lincoln,  July  3,  1731. 

•'  DEAR  BROTHER, — I  should  have  writ  sooner,  had  not  business 
and  indisposition  of  body  prevented  me.  Indeed,  sister  Pat's  going  to 
London  shocked  me  a  little,  because  it  was  unexpected  ;  and  perhaps 
may  have  been  the  cause  of  my  ill  health  for  the  last  fortnight.  It 
would  not  have  had  so  great  an  effect  upon  my  mind  if  I  had  known  it 
before  :  but  it  is  over  now — 

'  The  past  a*  nothing  we  esteem  ; 
And  pain,  like  pleasure,  i«a  dream.' 


348  M1SB   KEZZIA   WE8LET. 

"  I  should  be  glad  to  see  Nomis's  Reflections  on  the  Conduct  of 
Human  Understanding,  and  the  book  wrote  by  the  female  author :  but  I 
don't  expect  so  great  a  satisfaction  as  the  seeing  either  of  them,  except 
you  should  have  the  good  fortune  (for  me)  as  to  be  at  Epworth  when  I 
am  there,  which  will  be  in  the  latter  end  of  August.  I  shall  stay  a 
fortnight  or  three  weeks,  if  no  unforeseen  accident  prevent  it. 

"  I  must  not  expect  any  thing  that  will  give  me  so  much  pleasure  as 
the  having  your  company  so  long  ;  because  a  disappointment  would 
make  me  very  uneasy.  Had  your  supposition  been  true,  and  one  of  your 
fine  ladies  had  heard  your  conference,  they  would  have  despised  you 
as  a  mere  ill-bred  scholar,  who  could  make  no  better  use  of  such  an 
opportunity  than  preaching  to  young  women  for  the  improvement  of 
their  minds. 

"  I  am  entirely  of  your  opinion,  that  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  and 
virtue  will  most  improve  the  mind  :  but  how  to  pursue  these  is  the 
question.  Cut  off  indeed  I  am  from  all  means  which  most  men,  and 
many  women,  have  of  attaining  them. 

"  I  have  JV*e/so?i's  Method  of  Devotion,  and  The  Whole  Duty  of  Man, 
which  is  all  my  stock.  As  to  history  and  poetry,  I  have  not  so  much 
as  one  book. 

"  I  could  like  to  read  all  the  books  you  mention,  if  it  were  in  my 
power  to  buy  them  :  but  as  it  is  not  at  present,  nor  have  any  of  my 
acquaintance  I  can  borrow  them  of,  I  must  make  myself  easy  without 
them,  if  I  can  ;  but  I  had  rather  you  had  not  told  me  of  them,  because 
it  always  occasions  me  some  uneasiness  that  I  have  not  books  and 
opportunity  to  improve  my  mind.  Now  here  I  have  time, — in  a  morn- 
ing three  or  four  hours, — but  want  of  books : — at  home  I  had  books, 
but  no  time,  because  constant  illness  made  me  incapable  of  study.  I 
like  JVVson's  Method  of  Devotion  ;  the  aiming  every  day  at  some  par- 
ticular virtue.  I  wish  you  would  send  me  the  questions  you  speak  of, 
relative  to  each  virtue,  and  I  would  read  them  every  day.  Perhaps  they 
may  be  of  use  to  me  in  learning  contentment,  for  I  have  been  long  en- 
deavouring to  practise  it ;  yet  every  temptation  is  apt  to  cause  me  to 
fall  into  the  same  error. 

"  I  should  be  glad  if  you  would  say  a  little  to  sister  Emily  on  the 
same  subject  ;  for  she  is  very  likely  to  have  a  fit  of  sickness  with 
grieving  for  the  loss  of  Miss  Emery,  who  went  to  Wickham  last  Sa- 
turday to  live.  I  can't  persuade  her  to  the  contrary,  because  I  am  so 
much  addicted  to  the  same  failing  myself.  Pray  desire  brother  Charles 
to  bring  Prior,  the  second  part,  when  he  comes  ;  or  send  it,  according 
to  promise,  for  leaving  off  snuff  till  next  May  :  or  else  I  shall  think 
myself  at  liberty  to  take  as  soon  as  I  please.  Pray  let  me  know  in 
your  next  letter  when  you  design  to  come  down,  and  whether  brother 
NVesley  and  sister  will  come  with  you  ?  If  you  intend  to  walk,  and 
brother  Charles  with  you '( 

"  I  think  it  is  no  great  matter  whether  I  say  any  thing  relating  to 
the  people  of  Epworth,  or  no  ;  for  you  may  be  sure  he  that  increaseth 
knowledge  increaseth  sorrow.  I  expect  you  will  come  by  London  ; 
pray,  desire  sister  Pat  to  write  by  you. — I  have  not  heard  from  her 


CONCLUDING   OBSERVATION!.  349 


since  she  went.     You  must  not  measure  the  length  of  your  next  letter 
by  mine  :  I  am  ill,  and  can't  write  any  more. 
"  Your  affectionate  sister, 

"  KEZZIA  WESLEY." 

"  Miss  Kitty  went  to  6  o'clock  prayers  till  she  got  the  fever ;  and  I 
never  miss  except  sickness  prevent  me." 

Here  we  find  a  mind  thirsting  after  the  knowledge  both  Divine  and 
human  ;  and  struggling  against  many  disadvantages,  among  which 
comparative  poverty  and  bad  health  were  none  of  the  least.  Money 
was  scarce  a  hundred  years  ago  ;  and  books  not  easy  to  be  procured. 
Faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  a  present  salvation  was  little  known  ; 
and  growth  in  moral  goodness,  by  a  daily  reference  to,  and  practice 
of,  some  virtue,  was  a  poor  substitute  for  the  application  of  that  blood 
which  cleanses  from  all  unrighteousness,  and  a  daily  growth  in  grace, 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  thank  God,  the 
trumpet  does  not  now  give  an  uncertain  sound. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Mr.  Wesley  Hall,  after  having  engaged 
himself  to  Miss  Martha  Wesley,  paid  his  addresses  to  Miss  Kezzy, 
and,  when  on  the  point  of  leading  her  to  the  altar,  was  struck  with 
remorse  of  conscience,  and  returned  to  Martha  ;  and  that  Miss  Kezzy 
went  to  them  on  their  marriage,  and  lived  with  them  till  her  death, 
which  took  place  March  9,  1741. 

She  appears  to  have  had  a  general  state  of  ill  health,  and  a  long  life 
could  not  well  be  expected. 

She  was  to  have  been  married  to  a  gentleman  who  paid  his  addresses 
to  her  when  she  resided  with  her  sister  Hall  at  the  curacy,  near  Salis- 
bury ; — but  death  prevented  the  match. 

It  appears  that  her  brother  Charles  was  present  when  she  died  ;  of 
her  closing  scene  he  gives  the  following  account  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  John 
Wesley : — 

"Yesterday  morning,  [March  9,  1741]  sister  Kezzy  died  in  the 
Lord  Jesus.  He  finished  his  work,  and  cut  it  short  in  mercy.  Full 
of  thankfulness,  resignation,  and  love — without  pain  or  trouble,  she 
commended  her  spirit  into  the  hands  of  Jesus, — and  fell  asleep." 


CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

How  powerful  is  a  religious  education  ;  and  how  true  the  saying, 
Train  up  a  child  in  th«  way  he  should  go ;  and  when  he  is  old,  he  will 
not  depart  from  it. 

All  this  family  were  brought  up  in  the  fear  of  God ;  and  that  fear 
continued  with  them  through  life. 

We  have  in  the  preceding  history  records  of  the  last  hours  of  most  of 
them,  and  all  those  died  happy  in  God.  Hetty  appears  to  have  been 
the  only  one  who  was  not  decidedly  religious.  Brought  up  from  com- 
parative infancy  at  a  distance  from  her  parents,  and  indulged  by  a  fond 
uncle,  she  was  for  a  time  gay  and  giddy  ;  but  never  wicked. 

However,  the  seed  of  life  which  was  sown  in  her  heart  vegetated 
surely,  though  slowly.  Unparalleled  afflictions  became  the  means  of 


*  * 


350  CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

urging  her  to  seek  her  happiness  in  God.  She  sought,  found,  and 
lived,  several  years  in  the  possession  of  the  Divine,  favour,  and  died 
in  the  assurance  of  faith.  ^ii£ 

Such  a  family  I  have  never  read  of,  heard  of,  or  fflwra  ;  nor  since 
the  days  of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  and  Joseph  and  Mary  of  Nazareth, 
has  there  ever  been  a  family  to  which  the  human  race  has  been  more 
indebted. 

ADAM  CLARKE. 

Milbrook,  Feb.  28,  1822. 


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